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THE DUEL BETWEEN 
FRANCE AND GERMANY 

REPRINTED FROM "ADDRESSES ON WAR" 



CHARLES SUMNER 



PUBLISHED FOR THE WORLD PEACE FOUNDATION 

GINN AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 

1911 



THE DUEL BETWEEN 
FRANCE AND GERMANY 

REPRINTED FROM "ADDRESSES ON WAR" 



BY 

CHARLES SUMNER 



PUBLISHED FOR THE WORLD PEACE FOUNDATION 

GINN AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 

1911 






This address is one of the three by,- Charles 

Stimner included in the volume, "Addresses 

on War " (mailing price, 60 cents), published 

by the World Peace Foundation. 



LIBRARY 

AUG 31 1926 
Department of State. 



OCT 9 IS26 



COPVRIQHT, 1871, Br CHARLES SUMNEK, AND 18.S2, BY FKANCIS V. BALCH, EXBCOTOE 



THE 

DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 

WITH ITS LESSON TO CIVILIZATION. 

Lectuee in the Music Hall, Boston, October 26, 1870. 



*' When kings make War, 
No law betwixt two sovereigB^- C^ii) decide, 
But that of arms, where Fortune is the judge. 
Soldiers the lawyers, and the Bar the field." 

Dryden, L^e Triumphant, Act I. Sc. 1. 



LECTURE. 



MR. PRESIDENT, — I am to speak of the Duel 
between France and Germany, with its Lesson to 
Civilization. In calling the terrible war now waging 
a Duel, I might content myself with classical author- 
ity, Duellum being a well-known Latin word for War. 
The historian Livy makes a Roman declare that aJEfairs 
are to be settled " by a pure and pious duel " ; ^ the 
dramatist Plautus has a cliaracter in one of his plays 
who obtains great riches " by the duelling art, " ^ mean- 
ing the art of war ; and Horace, the exquisite master 
of language, hails the age of Augustus with the Temple 
of Janus closed and " free from duels," ^ meaning at 
peace, — for then only was that famous temple shut. 

WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 

But no classical authority is needed for this desig- 
nation. War, as conducted under International Law, 
between two organized nations, is in all respects a 
duel, according to the just signification t)f this word, — ■ 
differing from that between two individuals only in the 
number of combatants. The variance is of proportion 
merely, each nation being an individual who appeals to 
the sword as Arbiter ; and in each case the combat is 

1 "Puro pioque duello." — Eistorice, Lib. I. cap. 32. 

2 "Arte duellica." — Epidicus, Act. III. So. iv. 14. 

3 " Vacuum duellis." — Carmina, Lib. IV. xv. 8. 

243 



244 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 

subject to rules constituting a code by which the two 
parties are bound. For long years before civilization 
prevailed, the code governing the duel between individ- 
uals was as fixed and minute as that which governs the 
larger duel between nations, and the duel itself was 
simply a mode of deciding questions between individu- 
als. In presenting this comparison I expose myself to 
criticism only from those who have not considered this 
interesting subject in the light of history and of reason. 
The parallel is complete. Modern war is the duel of 
the Dark Ages, magnified, amplified, extended so as to 
embrace nations; nor is it any less a duel because the 
combat is quickened and sustained by the energies of 
self-defence, or because, when a champion falls and lies 
on the ground, he is brutally treated. An authentic 
instance illustrates such a duel ; and I bring before you 
the very pink of chivalry, the Chevalier Bayard, "the 
knight without fear and without reproach," who, after 
combat in a chosen field, succeeded by a feint in driving 
his weapon four fingers deep into the throat of his ad- 
versary, and then, rolling with him, gasping and strug- 
gling, on the ground, thrust his dagger into the nostrils 
of the fallen victim, exclaiming, " Surrender, or you are 
a dead man ! " — a speech which seemed superfluous ; 
for the second cried out, " He is dead already ; you have 
conquered." Then did Bayard, brightest among the 
Sons of War, drag his dead enemy from the field, cry- 
ing, " Have I done enough ? " ^ Now, because the brave 
knight saw fit to do these things, the combat was not 
changed in original character. It was a duel at the 

1 La tresjoyeuse, plaisante et recreative Hystoire, composee par le Loyal 
Serviteur, des Faiz, Gestes, Triumphes et Prouesses du Bon Chevalier sans 
Paour et sans Reprouche, le Gentil Seigneur de Bayart : Petitot, Collection 
des M^moires relatifs a I'Histoire de France, Tom. XV. pp. 241, 242. 



WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 245 

beginning and at the end. Indeed, the brutality with 
which it closed was the natural incident of a duel. A 
combat once begun opens the way to violence, and the 
conqueror too often surrenders to the E\'il Spirit, as 
Bayard in his unworthy barbarism. 

In likening war between nations to the duel, I fol- 
low not only reason, but authority also. No better 
lawyer can be named in the long history of the English 
bar than John Selden, whose learning was equalled only 
by his large intelligence. In those conversations which 
under the name of " Table-Talk " continue still to in- 
struct, the wise counsellor, after saying that the Church 
allowed the duel anciently, and that in the public litur- 
gies there were prayers appointed for duellists to say, 
keenly inquires, " But whether is this lawful ? " And 
then he answers, " If you grant any war lawful, I make 
no doubt but to convince it." ^ Selden regarded the 
simple duel and the larger war as governed by the same 
rule. Of course the exercise of force in the suppres- 
sion of rebellion, or in the maintenance of laws, stands 
on a different principle, being in its nature a constab- 
ulary proceeding, which cannot be confounded with the 
duel. But my object is not to question the lawfulness 
of war ; I would simply present an image, enabling you 
to see the existing war in its true character. 

The duel in its simplest form is between two individ- 
uals. In early ages it was known sometimes as the 
Judicial Combat, and sometimes as Trial by Battle. 
Not only points of honor, but titles to land, grave ques- 
tions of law, and even the subtilties of theology, were 
referred to this arbitrament, ^ — just as now kindred 

1 Table-Talk, ed. Singer, (London, 1856,) p. 47, — Duel. 

2 Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V. : View of the Progress 
of Society in Europe, Section I. Note XXII. 



246 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

issues between nations are referred to Trial by Battle ; 
and the early rules governing the duel are reproduced 
in the Laws of War established by nations to govern 
the great Trial by Battle. Ascending from the indi- 
vidual to corporations, guilds, villages, towns, counties, 
provinces, we find that for a long period each of these 
bodies exercised what was called " the Eight of War." 
The history of France and Germany shows how reluct- 
antly this mode of trial yielded to the forms of reason 
and order. France, earlier than Germany, ordained 
" Trial by Proofs," and eliminated the duel from judi- 
cial proceedings, this important step being followed by 
the gradual amalgamation of discordant provinces in 
the powerful unity of the Nation, — so that Brittany 
and Normandy, Franche-Comte and Burgundy, Pro- 
vence and Dauphiny, Gascouy and Languedoc, with the 
rest, became the United States of France, or, if you 
please, France. In Germany the change was slower; 
and here the duel exhibits its most curious instances. 
Not only feudal chiefs, but associations of tradesmen 
and of domestics sent defiance to each other, and some- 
times to whole cities, on pretences trivial as those 
which have been the occasion of defiance from nation 
to nation. There still remain to us Declarations of War 
by a Lord of Frauenstein against the free city of Frank- 
fort, because a young lady of the city refused to dance 
with his uncle, — by the baker and domestics of the 
Margrave of Baden against Esslingen, Eeutlingen, and 
other imperial cities, — by the baker of the Count Pal- 
atine Louis against the cities of Augsburg, Ulm, and 
Eottweil, — by the shoe-blacks of the University of 
Leipsic against the provost and other members, — and 
by the cook of Eppstein, with his scullions, dairy-maids, 



WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL. 247 

and dish-washers, against Otho, Count of Sohns.^ This 
prevalence of the duel aroused the Emperor Maximil- 
ian, who at the Diet of Worms put forth an ordinance 
abolishing the right or liberty of Private War, and in- 
stituting a Supreme Tribunal for the determination of 
controversies without appeal to the duel, and the whole 
long list of duellists, whether corporate or individual, 
including nobles, bakers, shoe-blacks, and cooks, was 
brought under its pacific rule. Unhappily the benefi- 
cent reform stopped half-way, and here Germany was 
less fortunate than France. The great provinces were 
left in the enjoyment of a barbarous independence, with 
the "right" to fight each other. The duel continued 
their established arbiter, until at last, in 1815, by the 
Act of Union constituting the Confederation or United 
States of Germany, each sovereignty gave up the right 
of war with its confederates, setting an example to the 
larger nations. The terms of this important stipulation, 
marking a stage in German unity, were as follows : — 

"The members of the Confederation further bind them- 
selves under no pretext tu make war upon one another, or to 
pursue their differences by force of arms, but to submit them 
to the Diet." ^ 

Better words could not be found for the United 
States of Europe, in the establishment of that Great 
Era when the Duel shall cease to be the recognized 
Arbiter of Nations. 

With this exposition, which I hope is not too long, 
it is easy to see how completely a war between two 

1 Coxe, History of the House of Austria, (London, 1820,) Cli. XIX., Vol. 
I. p. 378. 

2 Acta pour la Constitution federative de I'Allemagne du 8 Juin 1815, 
Art. 11 : Archives Diplomatiques, (Stiittgart et Tubingue, 1821-36,) Vol. 
IV. p. 15. 



248 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GEEMANY. 

nations is a duel, — and, yet further, how essential it is 
to that assured peace which civilization requires, that 
the duel, which is no longer tolerated as arbiter be- 
tween individuals, between towns, between counties, 
between provinces, should cease to be tolerated as such 
between nations. Take our own country, for instance. 
In a controversy between towns, the local law provides 
a judicial tribunal; so also in a controversy between 
counties. Ascending still higher, suppose a controversy 
between two States of our Union ; the National Consti- 
tution establishes a judicial tribunal, being the Supreme 
Court of the United States. But at the next stage 
there is a change. Let the controversy arise between 
two nations, and the Supreme Law, which is the Law 
of Nations, establishes, not a judicial tribunal, but the 
duel, as arbiter. What is true of our country is true of 
other countries where civilization has a foothold, and 
especially of France and Germany. The duel, though 
abolished as arbiter at home, is continued as arbiter 
abroad. And since it is recognized by International 
Law and subjected to a code, it is in all respects an 
Institution. War is an institution sanctioned by In- 
ternational Law, as Slavery, wherever it exists, is an 
institution sanctioned by Municipal Law. But this 
institution is nothing but the duel of the Dark Ages, 
prolonged into this generation, and showing itself in 
portentous barbarism. 

WHY THIS PARALLEL NOW? 

Therefore am I right, when I call the existing com- 
bat between France and Germany a Duel. I beg you 
to believe that I do this with no idle purpose of illus- 



SUDDENNESS OF THIS WAR. 249 

tratioB or criticism, but because 1 would prepare the 
way for a proper comprehension of the remedy to be 
apphed. How can this terrible controversy be adjusted? 
I see no practical method, which shall reconcile the 
sensibilities of France with the guaranties due to Ger- 
many, short of a radical change in the War System it- 
self. That Security for the Future which Germany 
may justly exact can be obtained in no way so well as 
by the disarmament of France, to be followed naturally 
by the disarmament of other nations, and the substitu- 
tion of some peaceful tribunal for the existing Trial by 
Battle. Any dismemberment, or curtailment of terri- 
tory, will be poor and inadequate ; for it will leave 
behind a perpetual sting. Something better must be 
done. 

SUDDENNESS OF THIS WAR. 

Never in history has so great a calamity descended 
so suddenly upon the Human Family, unless we except 
the earthquake toppling down cities and submerging a 
whole coast in a single night. But how small all that 
has ensued from any such convulsion, compared with 
the desolation and destruction already produced by this 
war ! From the first murmur to the outbreak was a 
brief moment of time, as between the flash of lightning 
and the bursting of the thunder. 

At the beginning of July there was peace without 
suspicion of interruption. The Legislative Body had 
just discussed a proposition for the reduction of the an- 
nual Army Contingent. At Berlin the Parliament was 
not in session. Count Bismarck was at his country 
home in Pomerania, the King enjoying himself at Ems. 
How sudden and unexpected the change will appear 



250 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GEKJVIANY. 

from an illustrative circumstance. M. Prevost-Paradol, 
of rare talent and unhappy destiny, newly appointed 
Minister to the United States, embarked at Havre on 
the 1st of July, and reached Washington on the morn- 
ing of the 14th of July. He assured me that when he 
left France there was no talk or thought of war. Dur- 
ing his brief summer voyage the whole startling event 
had begun and culminated. Prince Leopold of Hohen- 
zollern-Sigmariugen being invited to become candidate 
for the throne of Spain, France promptly sent her defi- 
ance to Prussia, followed a few days later by formal 
Declaration of War. The Minister was oppressed by 
the grave tidings coming upon him so unprepared, and 
sought relief in self-slaughter, being the first victim of 
the war. Everything moved with a rapidity borrowed 
from the new forces supplied by human invention, and 
the Gates of War swung wide open. 

CHALLENGE TO PRUSSIA. 

A FEW incidents exhibit this movement. It was on 
the 30th of June, while discussing the proposed reduc- 
tion of the Army, that lllmile Ollivier, the Prime-Minis- 
ter, said openly : " The Government has no kind of dis- 
quietude; at no epoch has the maintenance of peace 
been more assured ; on whatever side you look, you see 
no irritating question under discussion." ^ In the same 
debate, Garnier-Pages, the consistent Eepublican, and 
now a member of the Provisional Government, after 
asking, " Why these armaments ? " cried out : " Disarm, 
without waiting for others : this is practical. Let the 
people be relieved from the taxes which crush them, 

1 Jourual Officiel du Soir, 3 Juillet 1870. 



CHA.LLENGE TO PRUSSIA. 251 

and from the heaviest of all, the tax of blood." ^ The 
candidature of Prince Leopold seems to have become 
known at Paris on the 5th of July. On the next day 
the Due de Gramont, of a family famous in scandalous 
history, Minister of Foreign Affairs, hurries to the tri- 
bune with defiance on his lips. After declaring for the 
Cabinet that no foreign power could be suffered, by 
placing one of its princes on the throne of Charles the 
Fifth, to derange the balance of power in Europe, and 
put in peril the interests and the honor of France, he 
concludes by saying, in ominous words : " Strong in 
your support. Gentlemen, and in that of the nation, we 
shall know how to do our duty without hesitation and 
without weakness."^ This defiance was followed by 
what is called in the report, "general and prolonged 
movement, — repeated applause " ; and here was the 
first stage in the duel. Its character was recognized at 
once in the Chamber. Garnier-Pages exclaimed, in 
words worthy of memory : " It is dynastic questions 
which trouble the peace of Europe. The people have 
only reason to love and aid each other." ^ Though 
short, better than many long speeches. Cremieux, an 
associate in the Provisional Government of 1848, in- 
sisted that the utterance of the Minister was " a men- 
ace of war " ; and Emmanuel Arago, son of the great 
, Eepublican astronomer and mathematician, said that 
the Minister "had declared war."^ These patriotic 
representatives were not mistaken. The speech made 
peace difficult, if not impossible. It was a challenge 
to Prussia. 

1 Journal Officiel du Soir, 2 Juillet 1870. 

« Ibid., 8 Juillet. 3 ibid. * Ibid. 



252 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
COMEDY. 

Europe watched with dismay as the gauntlet was 
thus rudely flung down, while on this side of the At- 
lantic, where France and Germany commingle in the 
enjoyment of our equal citizenship, the interest was 
intense. Morning and evening the telegraph made us 
all partakers of the hopes and fears agitating the world. 
Too soon it was apparent that the exigence of France 
would not be satisfied, while already her preparations 
for war were undisguised. At all the naval stations, 
from Toulon to Cherbourg, the greatest activity pre- 
vailed. Marshal MacMahon was recalled from Algeria, 
and transports were made ready to bring back the 
troops from that colony. 

Meanwhile the candidature of Prince Leopold was 
renounced by him. But this was not enough. The 
King of Prussia was asked to promise that it should 
in no event ever be renewed, — which he declined to 
do, reserving to himself the liberty of consulting cir- 
cumstances. This requirement was the more offensive, 
inasmuch as it was addressed exclusively to Prussia, 
while nothing was said to Spain, the principal in the 
business. Then ensued an incident proper for comedy, 
if it had not become the declared cause of tragedy. 
The French Ambassador, Count Benedetti, who, on in- 
telligence of the candidature, had followed the King 
to Ems, his favorite watering-place, and there in succes- 
sive interviews pressed him to order its withdrawal, 
now, on its voluntary renunciation, proceeding to urge 
the new demand, and after an extended conversation, 
and notwithstanding its decided refusal, seeking, nev- 
ertheless, another audience the same day on this subject, 



PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 253 

his Majesty, with perfect politeness, sent him word by 
an adjutant in attendance, that he had no other answer 
to make than the one abeady given: and this refusal 
to receive the Ambassador was promptly communicated 
by telegraph, for the information especially of the dif- 
ferent German governments.^ 

PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM, 

These simple facts, insufficient for the slightest quar- 
rel, intolerable in the pettiness of the issue disclosed, 
and monstrous as reason for war between two civilized 
nations, became the welcome pretext. Swiftly, and 
with ill-disguised alacrity, the French Cabinet took the 
next step in the duel. On the 15th of July the Prime- 
Minister read from the tribune a manifesto setting forth 
the griefs of France, — being, first, the refusal of the 
Prussian King to promise for the future, and, secondly, 
his refusal to receive the French Ambassador, with the 
communication of this refusal, as was alleged, " official- 
ly to the Cabinets of Europe," which was a mistaken 
allegation : ^ and the paper concludes by announcing 
that since the preceding day the Government had called 
in the reserves, and that they would immediately take 
the measures necessary to secure the interests, the safe- 
ty, -and the honor of France.^ This was war. 

1 Bismarck to Bernstorff, July 19, 1870, with Tnclosures : Parliamentary 
Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX., — Franco-PrussiauWar, No. 3, pp. 5-8. Gerolt 
to Fish, August 11, 1870, with Tnclosures : Executive Documents, 41st 
Cong. 3d Sess., H. of R,, Vol. I. No. 1, Part 1,— Foreign Relations, pp. 
219-221. The reader will notice that the copy of the Telegram in this 
latter volume is the paper on p. 221, with the erroneous heading, " Count 
BisTnarck to Baron Gerolt." 

2 Bismarck to Bernstorff, July 18, and to Gerolt, July 19, 1870 : Parlia- 
mentary Papers and Execxitive Documents, Tnclosures, ubi supra. 

8 Journal Officiel du Soir, 17 Juillet 1870. 



254 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEAUCE AND GERMANY. 

Some there were who saw the fearful calamity, the 
ghastly crime, then and there initiated. The scene that 
ensued belongs to this painful record. The paper an- 
nouncing war was followed by prolonged applause. 
The Prime-Minister added soon after in debate, that he 
accepted the responsibility with " a light heart." ^ Not 
all were in this mood. Esquiros, the Eepublican, cried 
from his seat, in momentous words, " You have a light 
heart, and the blood of nations is about to flow ! " To 
the apology of the Prime-Minister, "that in the dis- 
charge of a duty tlie heart is not troubled," Jules Favre, 
the Eepublican leader, of acknowledged moderation and 
ability, flashed forth, " When the discharge of this duty 
involves the slaughter of two nations, one may well 
have the heart troubled ! " Beyond these declarations, 
giving utterance to the natural sentiments of humanity, 
was the positive objection, most forcibly presented by 
Thiers, so famous in the Chamber and in literature, 
" that the satisfaction due to France had been accorded 
her, — that Prussia had expiated by a check the grave 
fault she had committed," — that France had prevailed 
in substance, and all that remained was " a question of 
form," " a question of susceptibility," " questions of eti- 
quette." The experienced statesman asked for the dis- 
patches. Then came a confession. The Prime-Minister 
replied, that he had "nothing to communicate, — that, in 
the true sense of the term, there had been no dispatches, 
— that there were only verbal communications gathered 
up in reports, which, according to diplomatic usage, are 
not communicated." Here Emmanuel Arago interrupt- 
ed : " It is on these reports that you make war ! " The 

1 "De ce jour commence pour les ministres mes collegues, et pour moi, 
une grande responsibilite. [ " Oui ! " d gauche.] Nous Tacceptons, le c<eur 
leger." 



PKETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 255 

Prime-Minister proceeded to read two brief telegrams 
from Count Benedetti at Ems, when De Choiseul very 
justly exclaimed: "We cannot make war on that ground; 
it is impossible ! " Others cried out from their seats, — 
Garnier-Pages saying, " These are phrases " ; Emman- 
uel Arago protesting, " On this the civilized world will 
pronounce you wrong " ; to which Jules Favre added, 
" Unhappily, true ! " Thiers and Jules Favre, with 
vigorous eloquence, charged the war upon the Cabinet : 
Thiers declaring, " I regret to be obliged to say that we 
have war by the fault of the Cabinet " ; Jules Favre 
alleging, " If we have war, it is thanks to the politics of 
the Cabinet ; . . . . from the exposition that has been 
made, so far as the general interests of tlie two countries 
are concerned, there is no avowable motive for war." 
Girault exclaimed, in similar spirit : " We would be 
among the first to come forward in a war for the coun- 
try, but we do not wish to come forward in a dynastic 
and aggressive war." The Due de Gramont, who on the 
6th of July flung down the gauntlet, spoke once more 
for the Cabinet, stating solemnly, what was not the fact, 
that tlie Prussian Government had communicated to all 
the Cabinets of Europe the refusal to receive the French 
Ambassador, and then on this misstatement ejaculating: 
" It is an oiitrage on the Emperor and on France ; and 
if, by impossibility, there were found in my country a 
Chamber to bear and tolerate it, I would not remain five 
minutes Minister of Foreign Affairs." In our country 
we have seen how the Southern heart was fired ; so also 
was fired the heart of France. The Duke descended 
from the tribune amidst prolonged applause, with cries 
of " Bravo ! " — and at his seat (so says the report) " re- 
ceived numerous felicitations." Such was the atmosphere 



256 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

of the Chamber at this eventful moment. The orators 
of the Opposition, pleading for delay in the interest of 
peace, were stifled ; and when Gambetta, the young and 
fearless Eepublican, made himself heard in calling for 
the text of the dispatch communicating the refusal to 
receive the Ambassador, to the end that the Chamber, 
France, and all Europe might judge of its character, he 
was answered by the Prime-Minister with the taunt 
that "for the first time in a French Assembly there 
were such difficulties on a certain side in explaining a 
question of honor." Such was the case as presented by 
the Prime-Minister, and on this question of honor he 
accepted war " with a light heart." Better say, with no 
heart at all ; — for whoso could find in this condition of 
things sufficient reason for war was without heart. ^ 

During these brief days of solicitude, from the 6th to 
the 15th of July, England made an unavailing effort 
for peace. Lord Lyons was indefatigable ; and he was 
sustained at home by Lord Granville, who as a last re- 
sort reminded the two parties of the stipulation at the 
Congress of Paris, which they had accepted, in favor of 
Arbitration as a substitute for War, and asked them to 
accept the good offices of some friendly power.^ This 
most reasonable proposition was rejected by the French 
Minister, who gave new point to the French case by 
charging that Prussia "had chosen to declare that 
France had -been affronted in the person of her Ambas- 
sador," and then positively insisting that " it was this 
boast which was the gravamen of the offence." Capping 

1 For the full debate, see the Journal Officiel du Soir, 17 Juillet 1870, 
and Supplement. 

2 Earl Granville to Lords Lyons and Loftus, July 15, 1870, — Corre- 
spondence respecting the Negotiations preliminary to the War between 
Fiance and Prussia, p. 35 : Parliamentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX. 



PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM. 257 

the climax of barbarous absurdity, the French Miuister 
did not hesitate to announce that this " constituted an 
insult wliich no nation of any spirit could brook, and 
rendered it, much to the regret of the French Govern- 
ment, impossible to take into consideration the mode 
of settling the original matter in dispute which was 
recommended by lier Majesty's Government."^ Thus 
was peaceful Arbitration repelled. All honor to the 
English Government for proposing it ! 

The famous telegram put forward by France as the 
gravamen, or chief offence, was not communicated to the 
Chamber. The Prime-Minister, though hard-pressed, 
held it back. Was it from conviction of its too trivial 
character ? But it is not hist to tlie history of the duel. 
This telegram, with something of the brevity peculiar to 
telegraphic dispatches, merely reports the refusal to see 
the French Ambassador, without one word of affront or 
boast. It reports the fact, and nothing else ; and it is 
understood that the refusal was only when this func- 
tionary presented himself a second time in one day on 
the same business. Considering the interests involved, 
it would have been better, had the King seen him as 
many times as he chose to call ; yet the refusal was not 
unnatural. The perfect courtesy of his Majesty on this 
occasion furnished no cause of complaint. All that re- 
mained for pretext was the telegram.^ 

1 Lord Lyons to Earl Granville, July 15, 1870, — Correspondence respect- 
ing the Negotiations preliminary to the War between France and Prussia, 
pp. 39, 40 : Parliamentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX. 

2 See references, ante, p. 19, Note 1. For this telegram in the original, 
see Aegidi uiid Klauhold, Staatsarchiv, (Hamburg, 1870,) 19 Band, s. 44, 
No. 4033. 



258 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 



FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR. 

The scene in the Legislative Body was followed by 
the instant introduction of bills making additional ap- 
propriations for the Army and Navy, calling out the 
National Guard, and authorizing volunteers for the war. 
This last proposition was commended by the observa- 
tion that in France there were a great many young peo- 
ple liking powder, but not liking barracks, who would 
in this way be suited ; and this was received with ap- 
plause.^ On the 18th of July there was a further 
appropriation to the extent of 500 million francs, — 
440 millions being for the Army, and 60 for the Navy ; 
and an increase from 150 to 500 millions Treasury 
notes was authorized.^ On the 20th of July the Due 
de Gramont appeared once more in the tribune, and 
made the following speech : — 

" Conformably to customary rules, and by order of the 
Emperor, I have invited the Charge d' Affaires of France to 
notify the Berlin Cabinet of our resolution to seek by arms 
the guaranties which we have not been able to obtain by 
discussion. This step has been taken, and I have the honor 
of making known to the Legislative Body that in consequence 
a state of war exists between France and Prussia, beginning 
the 19th of July. This declaration applies equally to the 
allies of Prussia who lend her the cooperation of their arms 
against us." ^ 

Here the French Minister played the part of trum- 
peter in the duel, making proclamation before his cham- 
pion rode forward. According to the statement of Count 
Bismarck, made to the Parliament at Berlin, this formal 

1 Journal Officiel clu Soir, 17 Juillet 1870. 

2 Ibid., 20 Juillet. 3 Ibid., 23 Juillet. 



FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR. 259 

Declaration of War was the solitary official communi- 
cation 'from France in this whole transaction, being the 
first and only note since the candidature of Prince 
Leopold.^ How swift this madness will be seen in a 
few dates. On the 6th of July was uttered the first 
defiance from the French tribune ; on the 15th of July 
an exposition of the griefs of France, in the nature 
of a Declaration of War, with a demand for men and 
money; on the 19th of July a state of war was de- 
clared to exist. 

Firmly, but in becoming contrast with the "light 
heart " of France, this was promptly accepted by Ger- 
many, wliose heart and strength found expression in the 
speech of the King at the opening of Parliament, hastily 
assembled on the 19th of July. With articulation dis- 
turbed by emotion and with moistened eyes, his Majesty 
said : — 

" Supported by the unanimous will of the German govern- 
ments of the South as of the Xorth, we turn the more con- 
fidently to the love of Fatherland and the cheerful self- 
devotion of the German people, with a call to the defence 
of their honor and their independence." ^ 

Parliament responded sympathetically to the King, 
and made the necessary appropriations. And thus the 
two champions stood front to front. 

1 Sxxbstance of Speech of Bismarck to the Reichstag, [July 20, 1870,] 
explanatory of Documents relating to the Declaration of War, — Franco- 
Prussian War, No. 3, p. 29 : Parliamentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX. Dis- 
cours du Comte de Bismarck au Reichstag, le 20 Juillet 1870 : Angeberg, 
[Chodzko,] Recueil des Traites, etc., concernant la Guerre Franco-Alle- 
mande, Tom. I. p. 215. 

2 Aegidi \md Klauhold, Staatsarchiv, 19 Band, s. 107, No. 4056. Parlia- 
mentary Papers, 1870, Vol. LXX.: Franco-Prussian War, No. 3, pp. 2-3. 



260 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
THE TWO HOSTILE PARTIES. 

Throughout France, throughout Germany, the trum- 
pet sounded, and everywhere tlie people sprang to arms, 
as if the great horn of Orlando, after a sleep of ages, 
had sent forth once more its commanding summons. 
Not a town, not a village, that the voice did not pene- 
trate. Modern invention had supplied an ally beyond 
anything in fable. From all parts of France, from all 
parts of Germany, armed men leaped forward, leaving 
behind the charms of peace and the business of life. 
On each side the muster was mighty, armies counting 
by the hundred thousand. And now, before we witness 
the mutual slaughter, let us pause to consider the two 
parties, and the issue between them. 

France and Germany are most unlike, and yet the 
peers of each other, while among the nations they are 
unsurpassed in civilization, each prodigious in resources, 
splendid in genius, and great in renown. No two na- 
tions are so nearly matched. By Germany I now mean 
not only the States constituting North Germany, but 
also Wiirtemberg, Baden, and Bavaria of South Ger- 
many, allies in the present war, all of which together 
make about fifty-three millions of French hectares, be- 
ing very nearly the area of France. The population of 
each is not far from tliirty-eight millions, and it would 
be difficult to say wliich is the larger. Looking at fi- 
nances, Germany has the smaller revenue, but also the 
smaller debt, while her rulers, following the sentiment 
of the people, cultivate a wise economy, so that here 
again substantial equality is maintained with France. 
The armies of tlie two, embracing regular troops and 
those subject to call, did not differ much in numbers, 



THE TWO HOSTILE PAKTIES. 261 

unless we set aside the authority of the " Almanach de 
Gotha," which puts the military force of France some- 
what vaguely at 1,350,000, while that of North Ger- 
many is only 977,262, to which must be added 49,949 
for Bavaria, 34,953 for Wiirtemberg, and 43,703 for 
Baden, making a sum-total of 1,105,867. This, how- 
ever, is chiefly on paper, where it is evident France 
is stronger than in reality. Her available force at the 
outbreak of the war probably did not amount to more 
than 350,000 bayonets, while that of Germany, owing 
to her superior system, was 'as much as double this 
number. In Prussia every man is obliged to serve, and, 
still further, every man is educated. Discipline and 
education are two potent adjuncts. This is favorable 
to Germany. In the Chassepot and needle-gun the 
two are equal. But France excels in a well-appointed 
Navy, having no less than 55 iron-clads, and 384 other 
vessels of war, while Germany has but 2 iron-clads, 
and 87 other vessels of war.^ Then again for long 
generations has existed another disparity, to the great 
detriment of Germany. France has been a nation, 
while Germany has been divided, and therefore weak. 
Strong in union, the latter now claims something more 
than that dominion of the air once declared to be hers, 
while France had the land and England the sea.^ The 
dominion of the land is at last contested, and we are 
saddened inexpressibly, that, from the elevation they 

1 For the foregoing statistics, see Almanach de Gotha, 1870, under the 
names of the several States referred to, — also, for Areas and Popidation, 
■Tableaux Comparatifs, I., II., III., in same volume, pp. 1037-38. 

2 " So wie die Franzosen die Herren des Landes sind, die Englander die 
des grossern Meeres, wir die der Beide und Alles umfassenden Luft sind." — 
RioliTKR, (Jean Paul,) Frieden-Predigt an Deutschland, V. : Sammtliche 
Weike, (Berlin, 1826-38,) TheU XXXIV. s. 13. 



262 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

have reached, these two peers of civilization can descend 
to practise the barbarism of war, and especially that the 
land of Descartes. Pascal, Voltaire, and Laplace must 
challenge to bloody duel the land of Luther, Leibnitz, 
Kant, and Humboldt. 

FOLLY. 

Plainly between these two neighboring powers there 
has been unhappy antagonism, constant, if not increas- 
ing, partly from the memory of other days, and partly 
because France could not bear to witness that German 
unity which was a national right and duty. Often it 
has been said that war was inevitable. But it has come 
at last by surprise, and on " a question of form." So it 
was called by Thiers ; so it was recognized by Ollivier, 
when he complained of insensibility to a question of 
honor; and so also by the Due de Gramont, when he 
referred it all to a telegram. This is not the first time 
in history that wars have been waged on trifles; but 
since the Lord of Frauenstein challenged the free city 
of Frankfort because a young lady of the city refused 
to dance with his uncle, nothing has passed more ab- 
surd than this challenge sent by France to Germany 
because the King of Prussia refused to see the French 
Ambassador a second time on the same matter, and 
then let the refusal be reported by telegraph. Here is 
the folly exposed by Shakespeare, when Hamlet touch- 
es a madness greater than his own in that spirit which 
would " find quarrel in a straw when honor 's at the 
stake," and at the same time depicts an army 

" Led by a delicate and tender prince, 

Exposing wliat is mortal and unsure 

To all that Fortune, Death, and Danger dare, 

Even for an egg-shell. " 



UNJUST PKETENSION OF FRANCE. 263 

There can be no quarrel in a straw or for an egg-shell, 
unless men have gone mad. Nor can honor in a civil- 
ized age require any sacrifice of reason or humanity. 

UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE TO INTERFERE WITH 
THE CANDIDATURE OF HOHENZOLLERN. 

If the utter triviality of the pretext were left doubt- 
ful in the debate, if its towering absurdity were not 
plainly apparent, if its simple wickedness did not al- 
ready stand before us, we should find all these char- 
acteristics glaringly manifest in that unjust pretension 
which preceded the objection of form, on which France 
finally acted. A few words will make this plain. 

In a happy moment Spain rose against Queen Isa- 
bella, and, amidst cries of " Down with the Bourbons ! " 
drove her from the throne which she dishonored. This 
was in September, 1868. Instead of constituting a Ee- 
public at once, in harmony with those popular rights 
which had been proclaimed, the half-hearted leaders 
proceeded to look about for a King; and from that 
time till now they have been in this quest, as if it were 
the Holy Grail, or liappiness on earth. The royal 
family of Spain was declared incompetent. Therefore 
a king must be found outside, — and so the quest was 
continued in other lauds. One day the throne is offered 
to a prince of Portugal, then to a prince of Italy, but 
declined by each, — how wisely the future will show. 
At last, after a protracted pursuit of nearly two years, 
the venturesome soldier who is Captain-General and 
Prime-Minister, Marshal Prim, conceives the idea of 
offering it to a prince of Germany. His luckless vic- 
tim is Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a 



264 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

Ctitliolic, thirty-five years of age, and colonel of the first 
regiment of the Prussian foot-guards, whose father, a 
mediatized German prince, resides at Dlisseldorf. The 
Prince had not the good sense to decline. How his 
acceptance excited the French Cabinet, and became the 
beginning of the French pretext, I have already ex- 
posed ; and now I come to the pretension itself. 

By what title did France undertake to interfere with 
the choice of Spain ? If the latter was so foolish as to 
seek a foreigner for king, making a German first among 
Spaniards, by what title did any other power attempt to 
control its will ? To state the question is to answer it. 
Beginning with an outrage on Spanish independence, 
which the Spain of an earlier day would have resented, 
the next outrage was on Germany, in assuming that an 
insignificant prince of that country could not be per- 
mitted to accept the invitation, — all of which, besides 
being of insufferable insolence, was in that worst dynas- 
tic spirit which looks to princes rather than the people. 
Plainly France was unjustifiable. When I say it was 
none of her business, I give it the mildest condemnation. 
This was the first step in her monstrous blunder-criine. 

Its character as a pretext becomes painfully manifest, 
when we learn more of the famous Prince Leopold, thus 
invited by Spain and opposed by France. It is true 
that his family name is in part the same as that of the 
Prussian king. Each is Hohenzollern ; but he adds Sig- 
maringen to the name. The two are different branches 
of the same family ; but you must ascend to the twelfth 
century, counting more than twenty degrees, before you 
come to a common ancestor.^ And yet on this most 

1 Conversations -Lexikon, (Leipzig, 1866,) 8 Band, art. Hohenzollern. 
Carlyle's History of Friedrich II., (Loudon, 1858,) Book III. Ch. 1, Vol. L 
p. 200. 



UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE. 265 

distant and infinitesimal relationship the French preten- 
sion is founded. But audacity changes to the ridiculous, 
when it is known that the Prince is nearer in relation- 
ship to the French Emperor than to the Prussian King, 
and this by three different intermarriages, which do not 
go back to the twelfth century. Here is the case. His 
grandfather had for wife a niece of Joachim Murat,^ 
King of Naples, and brother-in-law of the first Napo- 
leon ; and his father had for wife a daughter of Ste- 
phanie de Beauharnais, an adopted daughter of the first 
Napoleon ; so that Prince Leopold is by his father great- 
grand-nephew of Murat, and by his mother he is grand- 
son of Stephanie de Beauharnais, who was cousin and 
by adoption sister of Hortense de Beauharnais, mother 
of the present Emperor ; and to this may be added still 
another connection, by the marriage of his father's sister 
with Joachim Napoleon, Marej^uis of Pepoli, grandson of 
Joachim Murat.^ It was natural that a person thus 
connected with the Imperial Family should be a wel- 
come visitor at the Tuileries ; and it is easy to believe 
that Marshal Prim, who offered him the throne, was 
encouraged to believe that the Emperor's kinsman and 
guest would be favorably regarded by France. And 
yet, in the face of these things, and the three several 
family ties, fresh and modern, binding him to France 
and the French Emperor, the pretension was set up that 
his occupation of the Spanish throne would put in peril 
the interests and the honor of France. 



1 Antoinette, daughter of Etienne Murat, third brother of Joachim. — 
Biographie Gmerale, (Didot,) Tom. XXXVI. col. 981, art. Murat, note. 

2 Almanach de Gotha, 1870, pp. 85-87, art. Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. 



266 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANCE AND GERMANY. 

BECAUSE FRANCE WAS READY. 

In sending defiance to Prussia on this question, the 
French Cabinet selected their own ground. Evidently a 
war had been meditated, and the candidature of Prince 
Leopold from beginning to end supplied a pretext. In 
this conclusion, which is too obvious, we are hardly left 
to inference. The secret was disclosed by Eouher, Presi- 
dent of the Senate, lately the eloquent and unscrupulous 
Minister, when, in an official address to the Emperor, 
immediately after the War Manifesto read by the Prime- 
Minister, he declared that France quivered with indig- 
nation at the flights of an ambition over-excited by the 
one day's good-fortune at Sadowa, and then proceeded: — 

" Animated by that calm perseverance which is true force, 
your Majesty has known how to wait ; but in the last four 
years you have carried to its highest perfection the arming of 
our soldiers, and raised to its full power the organization of 
our military forces. 2%anJcs to your care, Sire, France is 
ready." ^ 

Thus, according to the President of the Senate, France, 
after waiting, commenced war because she was ready, — 
while, according to the Cabinet, it was on the point of 
honor. Both were right. The war was declared be- 
cause the Emperor thought himself ready, and a pretext 
was found in the affair of the telegram. 

Considering the age, and the present demands of 
civilization, such a war stands forth terrific in wrong, 
making the soul rise indignant against it. One rea- 
son avowed is brutal ; the other is frivolous ; both are 
criminal. If we look into the text of the Manifesto 

1 Address at the Palais de Saint-Cloud, July 16, 1870 : Journal Officiel 
duSoir, IS Juilletl870. 



BECAUSE FRANCE WAS READY. 267 

and the speeches of the Cabinet, it is a war founded on 
a trifle, on a straw, on an egg-shell. Obviously these 
were pretexts only. Therefore it is a war of pretexts, 
the real object being the humiliation and dismember- 
ment of Germany, in the vain hope of exalting the 
French Empire and perpetuating a bawble crown on 
the head of a boy. By military success and a peace 
dictated at Berlin, the Emperor trusted to find himself 
in such condition, that, on return to Paris, he could 
overthrow parliamentary government so far as it ex- 
isted there, and reestablish personal government, where 
all depended upon himself, — thus making triumph over 
Germany the means of another triumph over the Frencli 
people. 

In other times there have been wars as criminal 
in origin, where trifle, straw, or egg-shell played its 
part; but they contrasted less with the surrounding 
civilization. To this list belong the frequent Dynastic 
Wars, prompted by the interest, the passion, or the 
whim of some one in the Family of Kings. Others 
have begun in recklessness kindred to that we now 
witness, — as when England entered into war with Hol- 
land, and for reason did not hesitate to allege " abusive 
pictures." ^ The England of Charles the Second was 

1 Hume, History of England, Ch. LXV., Marcli 17, 1672. — The terms of 
the Declaration on this point wei'e, — " Scarce a town within their territories 
that is not filled with abusive pictures." (Hansard's Parliamentary History, 
Vol. IV. col. 514.) Upon which Hume remarks: "The Dutch were long at 
a loss what to make of this article, till it was discovered that a portrait of 
Cornelius de Witt, brother to the Pensionary, painted by order of certain 
magistrates of Dort, and hung up in a chamber of the Town-Ho\ise, had 
given occasion to the complaint. In the perspective of this portrait the 
painter had drawn some ships on fire in a harbor. This was constriied to 
be Chatham, where De Witt had really distinguished himself," during the 
previous war, in the way here indicated, — " the disgrace " of which, says 
Lingard, " sunk deep into the heart of the King and the hearts of his sub- 
jects." — History of England, Vol. IX. Ch. III., June 13, 1667. 



268 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

hardly less sensitive than the France of Louis Napo- 
leon, while in each was similar indifference to conse- 
quences. But France has precedents of her own. 
From the remarkable correspondence of the Princess 
Palatine, Duchess of Orleans, we learn that the first 
war with Holland under Louis the Fourteenth was 
brought on by the Minister, De Lionne, to injure a pet- 
ty German prince who had made him jealous of his 
wife.^ The communicative and exuberant Saint-Simon 
tells us twice over how Louvois, another Minister of 
Louis the Fourteenth, being overruled by his master 
with regard to the dimensions of a window at Ver- 
sailles, was filled with the idea that " on account of a 
few inches in a window," as he expressed it, all his 
services would be forgotten, and therefore, to save his 
place, excited a foreign war that would make him ne- 
cessary to the King. The flames in the Palatinate, 
devouring the works of man, attested his continuing 
power. The war became general, but, according to the 
chronicler, it ruined France at home, and did not extend 
her domain abroad.^ The French Emperor confidently 
expected to occupy the same historic region so often 
burnt and ravaged by French armies, with that castle 
of Heidelberg which repeats the tale of blood, — and, 
let me say, expected it for no better reason than that 
of his royal predecessor, stimulated by an unprincipled 
Minister anxious for pers'onal position. The parallel is 
continued in the curse which the Imperial arms have 
brought on France. 

1 Briefe der Prinzessin Elisabeth Charlotte von Orleans an die Raugrafin 
Louise, 1676-1722, lierausg. vonW. Menzel, (Stuttgart, 1843,) — Paris, 31 
Mertz, 1718, s. 288. 

3 M^moires, (Paris, 1829,) Tom. VIL pp. 49-51; XIIL pp. 9-10. 



PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 269 

PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 

How this war proceeded I need not recount. You 
have all read the record day by day, sorrowing for Hu- 
manity, — how, after briefest interval of preparation or 
hesitation, the two combatants first crossed swords at 
Saarbrltcken, within the German frontier, and the 
young Prince Imperial performed his part in picking 
up a bullet from the field, which the Emperor promptly 
reported by telegrapli to the Empress, — how this little 
military success is all that was vouchsafed to the man 
who began the war, — how soon thereafter victory fol- 
lowed, first on the hill-sides of Wissembourg and then 
of Woerth, shattering the army of MacMahou, to which 
the Empire was looking so confidently, — how another 
large army under Bazaine was driven within the strong 
fortress of Metz, — how all the fortresses, bristling with 
guns and frowning upon Germany, were invested, — 
how battle followed battle on various fields, where 
Death was the great conqueror, — how, with help of 
modern art, war showed itself to be murder by ma- 
chinery, — how MacMahon, gathering together his scat- 
tered men and strengthening them with reinforcements, 
attempted to relieve Bazaine, — how at last, after long 
marches, his large army found itself shut up at Sedan 
with a tempest of fire beating upon its huddled ranks, 
so that its only safety was capitulation, — how with the 
capitulation of the army was the submission of the 
Emperor himself, who gave his sword to the King of 
Prussia and became prisoner of war, — and how, on the 
reception of this news at Paris, Louis Napoleon and his 
dynasty were divested of their powers and the Empire 
was lost in the Eepublic. These things you know. I 



270 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

need not dwell on them. Not to battles and their fear- 
ful vicissitudes, where all is incarnadined with blood, 
must we look, but to the ideas which prevail, — as for 
the measure of time we look, not to the pendulum in 
its oscillations, but to the clock in the tower, whose 
striking tells the hours. A great hour for Humanity 
sounded when the Eepublic was proclaimed. And this 
I say, even should it fail again ; for every attempt con- 
tributes to the final triumph. 

A WAR OF SURPRISES. 

The war, from the pretext at its beginning to the 
capitulation at Sedan, has been a succession of sur- 
prises, where the author of the pretext was a constant 
sufferer. Nor is this strange. Falstaff says, with hu- 
morous point, " See now how wit may be made a Jack- 
a-lent, when 't is upon ill employment ! " ^ — and an- 
other character, in a play of Beaumont and Fletcher, 
reveals the same evil destiny in stronger terms, when 
he says, — 

" Hell gives us art to reach the depth of sin, 
But leaves us wretched fools, when we are in." 2 

And this was precisely the condition of the French' 
Empire. Germany perhaps had one surprise, at the 
sudden adoption of the pretext for war. But the Em- 
pire has known nothing but surprise. A fatal surprise 
was the promptitude with which all the German States, 
outside of Austrian rule, accepted the leadership of 
Prussia, and joined their forces to hers. Differences 
were forgotten, — whether the hate of Hanover, the 

1 Merry Wives of Windsor, Act V. Sc. 5. 

2 Queen of Corinth, Act IV. Sc. 3. 



A WAK OF SURPRISES. 271 

dread of Wiirteraberg, the coolness of Bavaria, the oppo- 
sition of Saxony, or the impatience of the Hanse Towns 
at lost importance. Hanover would not rise ; the other 
States and cities would not be detached. On the day 
after the reading of the War Manifesto at the French 
tribune, even before the King's speech to the Northern 
Parliament, the Southern States began to move. Ger- 
man unity stood firm, and this was the supreme sur- 
prise for France with which the war began. On one 
day the Emperor in his Official Journal declares his ob- 
ject to be the deliverance of Bavaria from Prussian op- 
pression, and on the very next day the Crown Prince of 
Prussia, at the head of Bavarian troops, crushes an Im- 
perial army. 

Then came the manifest inferiority of the Imperial 
army, everywhere outnumbered, which was another sur- 
prise, — the manifest inferiority of the Imperial artil- 
lery, also a surprise, — the manifest inferiority of the 
Imperial generals, still a surprise. Above these was a 
prevailing inefficiency and improvidence, which very 
soon became conspicuous, and this was a surprise. The 
strength of Germany, as now exhibited, was a surprise. 
And when the German armies entered France, every 
step was a surprise. Wissembourg was a surprise ; so 
was Woerth ; so was Beaumont ; so was Sedan. Every 
encounter was a surprise. Abel Douay, the French 
general, who fell bravely fighting at Wissembourg, the 
first sacrifice on the battle-field, was surprised ; so was 
MacMahon, not only at the beginning, but at the end. 
He thought that the King and Crown Prince were 
marching on Paris. So they were, — but they turned 
aside for a few days to surprise a whole army of more 
than a hundred thousand men, terrible with cannon and 



272 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

newly inveated implements of war, under a Marshal 
of France, and with an Emperor besides. As this suc- 
cession of surprises was crowned with what seemed the 
greatest surprise of all, there remained a greater still in 
the surprise of the French Empire. No Greek Nemesis 
with unrelenting hand ever dealt more incessantly the 
unavoidable blow, until the Empire fell as a dead body 
falls, while the Emperor became a captive and the Em- 
press a fugitive, with their only child a fugitive also. 
The poet says : — 

" Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy 
In sceptred pall come sweeping by."^ 

It has swept before the eyes of all. Beneath that scep- 
tred pall is the dust of a great Empire, founded and 
ruled by Louis Napoleon ; if not the dust of the Em- 
peror also, it is because he was willing to sacrifice others 
rather than himself. 



OTHER FRENCH SOVEREIGNS CAPTURED ON THE 
BATTLE-FIELD. 

Twice before have French sovereigns yielded on the 
battle-field, and become prisoners of war ; but never 
before was capitulation so vast. Do their fates fur- 
nish any lesson ? At the Battle of Poitiers, memorable 
in English history, John, King of France, became the 
prisoner of Edward the Black Prince. His nobles, one 
after another, fell by his side, but he contended val- 
iantly to the last, until, spent with fatigue and over- 
come by numbers, he surrendered. His son, of the 
same age as the son of the French Emperor, was 

1 Milton, II Penseroso, 97-98. 



OTHER FRENCH SOVEREIGNS CAPTURED. 273 

wounded while battling for his father. The courtesy 
of the English Prince conquered more than his arms. 
I quote the language of Hume: — 

" More touched by Edward's generosity than by his own 
calamities, he confessed, that, notwithstanding his defeat and 
captivity, his honor was still unimpaired, and that, if he 
yielded the victory, it was at least gained by a prince of such 
consummate valor and humanity. " ^ 

The King was taken to England, where, after swelling 
the triumphal pageant of his conqueror, he made a dis- 
graceful treaty for the dismemberment of France, which 
the indignant nation would not ratify. A captivity of 
more than four years was terminated by a ransom of 
three million crowns in gold, — an enormous sum, more 
than ten million dollars in our day. Evidently the King 
was unfortunate, for he did not continue in France, but, 
under the influence of motives differently stated, re- 
turned to England, where he died. Surely here is a 
lesson. 

More famous than John was Francis, with salaman- 
der crest, also King of France, and rich in gayety, 
whose countenance, depicted by that art of which he 
was the patron, stands forth conspicuous in the line of 
kings. As the French Emperor attacked Germany, so 
did the King enter Italy, and he was equally confident 
of victory. On the field of Pavia he encountered an 
army of Charles the Fifth, but commanded by his gen- 
erals, when, after fighting desperately and killing seven 
men with his own hand, he was compelled to surrender. 
His mother was at the time Ptegent of France, and to 

1 History of England, (Oxford, 1826,) Ch. XVI., Vol. II. p. 407. 



274 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GEEMANY. 

her he is said to have written the sententious letter, 
" All is lost except honor." No such letter was written 
by Francis/ nor do we know of any such letter by Louis 
Napoleon; but the situation of the two Eegents was 
identical. Here are the words in which Hume describes 
the condition of the earlier: — 

" The Princess was struck with the greatness of the calam- 
ity. She saw the kingdom without a sovereign, without an 
army, without generals, without money, surrounded on every 
side by implacable and victorious enemies ; and her chief re- 
source, in her present distresses, were the hopes which she 
entertained of peace, and even of assistance from the King 
of England." " 

Francis became the prisoner of Charles the Fifth, 
and was conveyed to Madrid, where, after a year of 
captivity, he was at length released, crying out, as he 
crossed the French frontier, " Behold me King again !" ^ 
Is not the fate of Louis Napoleon prefigured in the ex- 
ile and death of his royal predecessor John, rather than 
in the return of Francis with his delighted cry ? 

LOUIS NAPOLEON. 

The fall of Louis Napoleon is natural. It is hard to 
see how it could be otherwise, so long as we continue to 

" assert eternal Providence, 
And justify the ways of God to men." 4 

Had he remained successful to the end, and died peace- 

1 Sismondi, Histoire des Fran^ais, Tom. XVL pp. 241 - 42. Martin, His- 
toire de France, (4eme ^dit.,) Tom. VIII. pp. 67, 68. 

2 History of England, (Oxford, 1826,) Ch. XXIX., Vol. IV. p, 51. 

3 Sismondi, Tom. XVI. p. 277. Martin, Tom. VIII. p. 90. 

4 Paradise Lost, Book I. 25-26. 



LOUIS NAPOLEON. 275 

fully on the throne, his name would have been a per- 
petual encouragement to dishonesty and crime. By 
treachery without parallel, breaking repeated promises 
and his oath of office, he was able to trample on the 
Eepublic. Taking his place in the National Assembly 
after long exile, the adventurer made haste to declare 
exultation in regaining his country and all his rights as 
citizen, with the ejaculation, " The Eepublic has given 
me this happiness : let the Eepublic receive my oath 
of gratitude, my oath of devotion ! " — and next he pro- 
claimed that there was nobody to surpass him in deter- 
mined consecration " to the defence of order and to the 
establishment of the Eepublic." ^ Good words these. 
Then again, when candidate for the Presidency, in a 
manifesto to the electors he gave another pledge, an- 
nouncing that he " would devote himself altogether, 
without mental reservation, to the establishment of a 
Eepublic, wise in its laws, honest in its intentions, great 
and strong in its acts " ; and he volunteered further 
words, binding him in special loyalty, saying that he 
" should make it a 'point of honor to leave to his succes- 
sor, at the end of four years, power strengthened, liberty 
intact, real progress accomplished." ^ How these plain 
and unequivocal engagements were openly broken you 
shall see. 

Chosen by the popular voice, his inauguration took 
place as President of the Eepublic, when he solemnly 
renewed the engagements already assumed. Ascending 
from his seat in the Assembly to the tribune, and hold- 
ing up his hand, he took the following oath of office : 
"In presence of God, and before the French people, 

1 Soance du 26 Septemhre 1848: Moiiiteur, 27 Septembre. 

2 A ses Concitoyeus: CEuvres, Tom. IIL p. 25. 



276 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GERMANY. 

represented by the National Assembly, I swear to re- 
main faithful to the Democratic Eepublic One and 
Indivisible, and to fulfil all the duties which the Con- 
stitution imposes upon me." This was an oath. Then, 
addressing the Assembly, he said : " The suffrages of the 
nation and the oath which I have just taken prescribe 
my future conduct. My duty is marked out. I will 
fulfil it as a man of honor" Again he attests his 
honor. Then, after deserved tribute to his immediate 
predecessor and rival. General Cavaignac, on his loyalty 
of character, and that sentiment of duty which he de- 
clares to be " the first quality in the chief of a State," 
he renews his vows to the Eepublic, saying, " We have. 
Citizen Eepresentatives, a great mission to fulfil ; it is 
to found a Eepublic in the interest of all " ; and he 
closed amidst cheers for the Eepublic.^ And yet, in the 
face of this oath of office and this succession of most 
solemn pledges, where he twice attests his honor, he 
has hardly become President before he commences plot- 
ting to make himself Emperor, until, at last, by violence 
and blood, with brutal butchery in the streets of Earis, 
he succeeded in overthrowing the Eepublic, to which he 
was bound by obligations of gratitude and duty, as well 
as by engagements in such various form. The Empire 
was declared. Then followed \\\§ marriage, and a dynas- 
tic ambition to assure the crown for his son. 

Early in life a " Charcoal " conspirator against kings,^ 
he now became a crowned conspirator against repub- 
lics. The name of Eepublic was to him a reproof, while 
its glory was a menace. Against the Eoman Eepublic 
he conspired early; and when the rebellion waged 

1 stance du 20 Ddcembre 1848: Moniteur, 21 Decembre. 
' A member of the secret society of the Carbonari in Italy. 



LOUIS NAPOLEON, 277 

by Slavery seemed to afford opportunity, he couspired 
against our Eepublic, promoting as far as he dared the 
independence of the Slave States, and at the same time 
on the ruins of the Mexican Eepublic setting up a mock 
Empire. In similar spirit has he conspired against Ger- 
man Unity, whose just strength promised to be a wall 
against his unprincipled self-seeking. 

This is but an outline of that incomparable perfidy, 
which, after a career of seeming success, is brought to a 
close. Of a fallen man I would say nothing ; but, for 
the sake of Humanity, Louis Napoleon should be ex- 
posed. He was of evil example, extending with his 
influence. To measure the vastness of this detriment 
is impossible. In sacrificing the Republic to his own 
aggrandizement, in ruling for a dynasty rather than 
the people, in subordinating the peace of the world to 
his own wicked ambition for liis boy, he set an exam- 
ple of selfishness, and in proportion to bis triumph was 
mankind corrupted in its judgment of human conduct. 
Teaching men to seek ascendency at the expense of 
duty, he demoralized not only France, but the world. 
Unquestionably part of this evil example was his false- 
hood to the Eepublic. Promise, pledge, honor, oath, 
were all violated in this monstrous treason. Never in 
history was greater turpitude. Unquestionably he could 
have saved the Eepublic, but he preferred his own exal- 
tation. As I am a Eepublican, and believe republican 
institutions for the good of mankind, I cannot pardon 
the traitor. The people of France are ignorant ; he did 
not care to have them educated, for their ignorance was 
his strength. With education bestowed, the Eepublic 
would have been assured. And even after the Empire, 
had he thought more of education and less of his dy- 



278 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

nasty, there would have been a civilization throughout 
France making war impossible. Unquestionably the 
present war is his work, instituted for his imagined ad- 
vantage. Bacon, in one of his remarkable Essays, tells 
us that " Extreme self-lovers will set an house on fire, 
and it were but to roast their eggs." ^ Louis Napoleon 
has set Europe on fire to roast his. 

Beyond the continuing offence of his public life, I 
charge upon him three special and unpardonable crimes : 
first, that violation of public duty and public faith, con- 
trary to all solemnities of promise, by which the whole 
order of society was weakened and human character was 
degraded; secondly, disloyalty to republican institutions, 
so that through him the Eepublic has been arrested in 
Europe ; and, thirdly, this cruel and causeless war, of 
which he is the guilty author. 

RETRIBUTION. 

Of familiar texts in Scripture, there is one which, 
since the murderous outbreak, has been of constant ap- 
plicability and force. You know it: "All they that 
take the sword shall perish with the sword " : ^ and these 
words are addressed to nations as to individuals. France 
took the sword against Germany, and now lies bleeding 
at every pore. Louis Napoleon took the sM^ord, and is 
nought. Already in that coup d'etat by which he over- 
threw the Eepublic he took the sword, and now the 
Empire, which was the work of his hands, expires. In 
Mexico again he took the sword, and again paid the 
fearful penalty, — while the Austrian Archduke, who, 

1 Of Wisdom for a Man's Self : Essay XXIII. 

2 Jilatthew, x.xvi. 52. 



RETRIBUTION. 279 

yielding to his pressure, made himself Emperor tliere, 
was shot by order of the Mexican President, an Indian 
of unmixed blood. And here there was retribution, not 
only for the French Emperor, but far beyond. I know 
not if there be invisible threads by which the Present 
is attached to the distant Past, making the descendant 
suffer even for a distant ancestor, but I cannot forget 
that Maximilian was derived from that very family of 
Charles the Fifth, whose conquering general, Cortes, 
stretched the Indian Guatemozin upon a bed of fire, 
and afterwards executed him on a tree. The death of 
Maximilian was tardy retribution for the death of Gua- 
temozin. And thus in this world is wrong avenged, 
sometimes after many generations. The fall of the 
French Emperor is an illustration of that same retri- 
bution which is so constant. While he yet lives, judg- 
ment has begun. 

If I accumulate instances, it is because the certainty 
of retribution for wrong, and especially for the great 
wrong of "War, is a lesson of the present duel to be im- 
pressed. Take notice, all who would appeal to war, 
that the way of the transgressor is hard, and sooner or 
later he is overtaken. The ban may fall tardily, but it 
is sure to fall. 

Eetribution in another form has already visited France; 
nor is its terrible vengeance yet spent. Not only are 
populous cities, all throbbing with life and filled with 
innocent households, subjected to siege, but to bombard- 
ment also, — being that most ruthless trial of war, where 
non-combatants, including women and children, sick 
and aged, share with the soldier his peculiar perils, and 
suffer alike with him. All are equal before the hideous 
shell, crashing, bursting, destroying, killing, and changing 



280 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

the fairest scene into blood-spattered wreck. Against 
its vengeful, slaughterous descent there is no protection 
for the people, — nothing but an uncertain shelter in 
cellars, or, it may be, in the common sewers. Already 
Strasbourg, Toul, and Metz have been called to endure 
this indiscriminate massacre, where there is no distinc- 
tion of persons ; and now the same fate is threatened 
to Paris the Beautiful, with its thronging population 
counted by the million. Thus is the ancient chalice 
which France handed to others now commended to her 
own lips. It was France that first in history adopted 
this method of war. Long ago, under Louis the Four- 
teenth, it became a favorite ; but it has not escaped the 
judgment of history. Voltaire, with elegant pen, re- 
cords that " this art, carried soon among other nations, 
served only to multiply human calamities, and more 
than once was dreadful to France, where it was in- 
vented." ^ The bombardment of Luxembourg in 1683 
drew from Sismondi, always humane and refined, words 
applicable to recent events. "Louis the Fourteenth," 
he says, " had been the first to put in practice this 
atrocious and newly invented method of bombarding 
towns, .... of attacking, not fortifications, but private 
houses, not soldiers, but peaceable inhabitants, women 
and children, and of confounding thousands of private 
crimes, each one of which would cause horror, in one 
great public crime, one great disaster, which he regarded 
as nothing more than one of the catastrophes of war." ^ 
Again is the saying fulfilled, "All they that take the 
sword shall perish with the sword." No lapse of time 

1 Siecle de Louis XIV., Ch. XIV. : CEuvres, (edit. 1784-89,) Tom. XX. 
p. 406. 

2 Histoire des Fran9ais, Tom. XXV. pp. 452-53. 



PEACE AFTER CAriTULATION AT SEDAN. 281 

can avert the inexorable law. Macbeth saw it in his 
terrible imaginings, when he said, — 

"But ill these cases 
We still have judgment here, — that we but teach 
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return 
To plague the inventor." 

And what instruction more bloody than the bombard- 
ment of a city, which now returns to plague the French 
people ? 

Thus is history something more even than philosophy 
teaching by example ; it is sermon with argument and 
exhortation. The simple record of nations preaches ; 
and whether you regard reason or the affections, it is 
the same. If nations were wise or humane, they would 
not fight. 

PEACE AFTER CAPITULATION AT SEDAN". 

Vain are lessons of the past or texts of prudence 
against that spirit of War which finds sanction and 
regulation in International Law. So long as the war 
system continues, men will fight. While I speak, the 
two champions still stand front to front, Germany ex- 
ulting in victory, but France in no respect submissive. 
The duel still rages, although one of the champions is 
pressed to earth, as in that early combat where the 
Chevalier Bayard, so eminent in chivalry, thrust his 
dagger into the nostrils of his fallen foe, and then 
dragged his dead body off the field. History now re- 
peats itself, and we witness in Germany the very con- 
duct condemned in the famous French knight. 

The French Emperor was the aggressor. He began 
this fatal duel. Let him fall, — but not the people 
of France. Cruelly already have they expiated then 



282 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

offence in accepting such a ruler. Not always should 
they suffer. Enough of waste, enough of sacrifice, 
enough of slaughter have they undergone. Enough 
have they felt the accursed hoof of War. 

It is easy to see now, that, after the capitulation at 
Sedan, there was a double mistake :' first, on the part 
of Germany, which, as magnanimous conqueror, should 
have proposed peace, thus conquering in character as in 
arms ; and, secondly, on the part of the Eepublic, which 
should have declined to wage a war of Imperialism, 
ao-ainst which the Eepublican leaders had so earnestly 
protested. With the capitulation of the Emperor the 
dynastic question was closed. There was no longer 
pretension or pretext, nor was there occasion for war. 
The two parties should have come to an understanding. 
Why continue this terrible homicidal, fratricidal, suici- 
dal combat, fraught with mutual death and sacrifice ? 
Why march on Paris ? Why beleaguer Paris ? Why 
bombard Paris? To what end? If for the humilia- 
tion of France, then must it be condemned. 

THREE ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 

In arriving at terms of peace, there are at least three 
conditions which cannot be overlooked in the interest of 
civilization, and that the peace may be such in reality 
as in name, and not an armistice only, — three postu- 
lates which stand above all question, and dominate this 
debate, so that any essential departure from them must 
end in wretched failure. 

The first is the natural requirement of Germany, that 
there shall be completest guaranty against future aggres- 
sion, constituting what is so well known among us as 



INDEMNITY OF GERMANY. 283 

" Security for the Future." Count Bismarck, with an 
exaggeration hardly pardonable, alleges more than 
twenty invasions of Germany by France, and declares 
that these must be stopped forever.^ Many or few, 
they must be stopped forever. The second condition to 
be regarded is the natural requirement of France, that 
the guaranty, while sufficient, shall be such as not 
to wound needlessly the sentiments of the French 
people, or to offend any principle of public law. It is 
diihcult to question tliese two postulates, at least in the 
abstract. Only when we come to the application is 
there opportunity for difference. The third postulate, 
demanded alike by justice and humanity, is the estab- 
lishment of some rule or precedent by which the recur- 
rence of such a barbarous duel shall be prevented. It 
will not be enough to obtain a guaranty for Germany ; 
there must be a guaranty for Civilization itself. 

On careful inquiry, it will be seen that all these can 
be accomplished in one way only, which I will describe, 
when I have first shown what is now put forward and 
discussed as the claim of Germany, under two different 
heads. Indemnity and Guaranty. 

INDEMNITY OF GERMANY. 

I HAVE already spoken of Guaranty as an essential 
condition. Indemnity is not essential. At the close 
of our war with Slavery we said nothing of indemnity. 
For the life of the citizen there could be no indemnity ; 
nor was it practicable even for the treasure sacrificed. 
Security for the Future was all that our nation required, 

1 Circular of September 16, 1870 : Foreign Relations of the United 
States, — Executive Documents, 41st Cong. 3d Sess., H. of R., Vol. I. 
No. 1, Part 1, pp. 212- 13. 



284 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

and this was found in provisions of Law and Constitu- 
tion establishing Equal Eights. From various intima- 
tions it is evident that Germany will not be content 
without indemnity in money on a large scale ; and it 
is also evident that France, the aggressor, cannot, when 
conquered, deny liability to a certain extent. The ques- 
tion will be on the amount. Already German calcula- 
tors begin to array their unrelenting figures. One of 
these insists that the indemnity shall not only cover 
outlay for the German Army, — pensions of widows 
and invalids, — maintenance and support of French 
wounded and prisoners, — compensation to Germans 
expelled from France, — also damage suffered by the 
territory to be annexed, especially Strasbourg ; but it is 
also to cover indirect damages, large in amount, — as, 
loss to the nation from change of productive laborers 
into soldiers, — loss from killing and disabling so many 
laborers, — and, generally, loss from suspension of trade 
and manufactures, depreciation of national property, 
and diminution of the public revenues : — all of which, 
according to a recent estimate, reach the fearful sum- 
total of 4,935,000,000 francs, or nearly one thousand 
million dollars. Of this sum, 1,255,000,000 francs are 
on account of the Army, 1,230,000,000 for direct dam- 
age, 2,250,000,000 for indirect damage, and 200,000,000 
for damage to the reconquered provinces. Still further, 
the Berlin Chamber of Commerce insists on indemnity 
not only for actual loss of ships and cargoes from the 
blockade, but also for damages on account of detention. 
Much of this many-headed account, which I introduce 
in order to open the case in its extent, will be opposed 
by France, as fabulous, consequential, and remote. The 
practical question will be, Can one nation do wrong to 



GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 285 

another without paying for the damage, whatever it 
may be, direct or indirect, — always provided it be 
susceptible of estimate ? Here 1 content myself with 
the remark, that, while in the settlement of interna- 
tional differences there is no place for technicality, 
there is always room for moderation. 

GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 

Vast as may be the claim of indemnity, it opens 
no question so calculated to toucli the sensibilities of 
France as the claim of guaranty already announced by 
Germany. On this head we are not left to conjecture. 
From her first victory we have been assured that Ger- 
many would claim Alsace and German Lorraine, with 
their famous strongholds ; and now we have the state- 
ment of Count Bismarck, in a diplomatic circular, that 
he expects to remove the German frontier further 
west, — meaning to the Vosges Mountains, if not to 
the Moselle also, — and to convert the fortresses into 
what he calls " defensive strongholds of Germany." ^ 
Then, with larger view, he declares, that, " in rendering 
it more difficult for France, from whom all European 
troubles have so long proceeded, to assume the offen- 
sive, we likewise promote the common interest of Eu- 
rope, which demands the preservation of peace." Here 
is just recognition of peace as the common interest of 
Europe, to be assured by disabling France. How shall 
this be done ? The German Minister sees nothing but 
dismemberment, consecrated by a Treaty of Peace. 
With diplomatic shears he would cut off a portion of 
French territory, and, taking from it the name of France, 

1 Circular of September 16, 1870, — uhi supra, p. 49, Note 1. 



286 THE DUEL BETWEEN FBANCE AND GERMANY. 

stamp upon it the trade-mark of Germany. Two of its 
richest and most precious provinces, for some two liun- 
dred years constituent parts of the great nation, with 
that ancient cathedral city, the pride of the Ehine, long 
years ago fortified by Vauban as " the strongest barrier 
of France," ^ are to be severed, and with them a large 
and industrious population, which, while preserving the 
German language, have so far blended with France as 
to become Frenchmen. This is the German proposition, 
which I call the Guaranty of Dismemberment. 

One argument for this proposition is brushed aside 
easily. Had the fortune of war been adverse to Ger- 
many, it is said, peace would have been dictated at Ber- 
lin, perhaps at Konigsberg, and France would have 
carried her frontier eastward to the Ehine, dismember- 
ing Germany. Such, I doubt not, would have been the 
attempt. The conception is entirely worthy of that 
Imperial levity with which the war began. But the 
madcap menace of the French Empire cannot be the 
measure of German justice. It is for Germany to show, 
that, notwithstanding this wildness, she knows how to 
be just. Dismemberment on this account would be 
only another form of retaliation ; but retaliation is 
barbarous. 

To the argument, that these provinces, with their 
strongholds, are needed for the defence of Germany, 
there is the obvious reply, that, if cut off from France 
contrary to the wishes of the local population, and 
with the French people in chronic irritation on this 
account, they will be places of weakness rather than 
strength, strongholds of disaffection rather than defence, 

1 Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV., Ch. XIV.: (Euvres, (edit. 1784-89,) 
Tom. XX. p. 403. 



GUARANTY OF DISMEMBERMENT. 287 

to be lield always at the cannon's mouth. Does Ger- 
many seek lasting peace ? Not in this way can it be 
had. A painful exaction, enforced by triumphant arms, 
must create a sentiment of hostility in France, sup- 
pressed for a season, but ready at a propitious moment 
to break forth in violence ; so that between the two 
conterminous nations there will be nothing better than 
a peace where each sleeps on its arms, — which is but 
an Armed Peace. Such for weary years has been the 
condition of nations. Is Germany determined to pro- 
long the awful curse ? Will her most enlightened 
people, with poetry, music, literature, philosophy, sci- 
ence, and religion as constant ministers, to whom has 
been opened in rarest degree the wliole book of knowl- 
edge, persevere in a brutal policy belonging to another 
age, and utterly alien to that superior civilization which 
is so truly theirs ? 

There is another consideration, not only of justice, 
but of public law, which cannot be overcome. The 
people of these provinces are unwilling to be separat- 
ed from France. This is enough. France cannot sell or 
transfer them against their consent. Consult the great 
masters, and you will find their concurring authority. 
Grotius, from whom on sucli a question there can be no 
appeal, adjudges: "In the alienation of a part of the 
sovereignty it is required that the imrt which is to he 
alienated consent to the act." According to him, it must 
not be supposed " that the body should have the right 
of cutting off parts from itself and giving them into the 
authority of another." ^ Of the same opinion is Pufen- 
dorf, declaring : " The sovereign who attempts to trans- 
fer his kingdom to another by his sole authority does 

1 De Jure Belli et Pads, tr. Whewell, Lib. II. Cap. 6, § 4. 



288 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

an act in itself null and voi'd, and not binding on his 
subjects. To make such a conveyance valid, the con- 
sent of the people is required, as well as of the prince." ^ 
Vattel crowns this testimony, when he adds, that a 
province or city, " abandoned and dismembered from 
the State, is not obliged to receive the new master 
proposed to be given it." ^ Before such texts, stronger 
than a fortress, the soldiers of Germany must halt. 

Nor can it be forgotten how inconsistent is the guar- 
anty of Dismemberment with that heroic passion for na- 
tional unity which is the glory of Germany. National 
unity is not less the right of France than of Germany ; 
and these provinces, though in former centuries German, 
and still preserving the German speech, belong to the 
existing unity of France, — unless, according to the pop- 
ular song, the German's Fatherland extends 

" Far as the German accent rings " ; 

and then the conqueror must insist on Switzerland ; and 
why not cross the Atlantic, to dictate laws in Pennsyl- 
vania and Cliicago ? But this same song has a better 
verse, calling that the German's Fatherland 

"Where in the heart love warmly lies." 

But in these coveted provinces it is the love for France, 
and not for Germany, which prevails. 

GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 

The Guaranty of Dismemberment, when brought to 
the touchstone of the three essential conditions, is found 
wanting. Dismissing it as unsatisfactory, I come to 

1 De Jure NaturEB et Gentium, Lib. VIII. Cap. 5, § 9. 

2 Le Droit des Gens, Liv. T. Cli. 21, § 264. 



GUARANTY OF DISAKMAMENT. 289 

that other guaranty where these conditions are all ful- 
filled, and we find security for Germany without offence 
to the just sentiments of France, and also a new safe- 
guard to civilization. Against the Guaranty of Dismem- 
berment I oppose the Guaranty of Disarmament. By 
Disarmament I mean the razing of the French fortifica- 
tions and the abolition of the standing army, except 
that minimum of force required for purposes of police. 
How completely this satisfies the conditions already 
named is obvious. For Germany there would be on the 
side of France absolute repose, so tliat Count Bismarck 
need not fear another invasion, — while France, saved 
from intolerable humiliation, would herself be free to 
profit by the new civilization. 

Nor is this guaranty otherwise than practical in every 
respect, and the more it is examined the more will its 
inestimable advantage be apparent. 

1. There is, first, its most obvious economy, which is 
so glaring, that, according to a familiar French expres- 
sion, " it leaps into the eyes." Undertaking even briefly 
to set it forth, I seem to follow the proverb and " show 
the sun with a lantern." According to the " Almanach 
de Gotha," the appropriations for the army of France, 
during the year of peace before the war, were 588,852, 
970 francs, ^ — or about one hundred and seventeen 
millions of dollars. Give up the Standing Army and 
this considerable sum disappears from the annual bud- 
get. But this retrenchment represents only partially 
the prodigious economy. Beyond the annual outlay is 
the loss to the nation by the change of producers into 
non-producers. Admitting that in France the average 
annual production of a soldier usefully employed would 

1 Almanach de Gotha, 1870, p. 599. 



290 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

be only fifty dollars, and multiplying this small allow- 
ance by the numbers of the Standing Army, you have 
another amount to be piled upon the military appropri- 
ations. Is it too much to expect that this surpassing 
waste shall be stopped ? Must the extravagance born 
of war, and nursed by long tradition, continue to drain 
the resources of the land ? Where is reason ? Where 
humanity ? A decree abolishing the Standing Army 
would be better for the French people, and more pro- 
ductive, than the richest gold-mine discovered in every 
department of France. Nor can imagination picture 
the fruitful result. I speak now only in the light of 
economy. Relieved from intolerable burden, industry 
would lift itself to unimagined labors, and society be 
quickened anew. 

2. Beyond this economy, which need not be argued, 
is the positive advantage, if not necessity, of such change 
for France. I do not speak on general grounds applica- 
ble to all nations, but on grounds peculiar to France at 
the present moment. Emerging from a most destructive 
war, she will be subjected to enormous and unprece- 
dented contributions of every kind. After satisfying 
Germany, she will find other obligations at home, — 
some pressing directly upon the nation, and others upon 
individuals. Beyond the outstanding pay of soldiers, 
requisitions for supplies, pensions for the wounded and 
the families of the dead, and other extraordinary lia- 
bilities accumulating as never before in the same time, 
there will be the duty of renewing that internal pros- 
perity which has received such a shock ; and here the 
work of restoration will be costly, whether to the nation 
or the individual. Eevenue must be regained, roads 
and bridges repaired, markets suj)plied; nor can we 



GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 291 

omit the large and multitudinous losses from ravage of 
fields, seizure of stock, suspension of business, stoppage 
of manufactures, interference with agriculture, and the 
whole terrible drain of war by which the people are 
impoverished and disabled. If to the necessary appro- 
priation and expenditure for all these things is super- 
added the annual tax of a Standing Army, and that 
other draft from the change of producers into non- 
producers, plainly here is a supplementary burden of 
crushing weight. Talk of the last feather breaking 
the back of the camel, — but never was camel loaded 
down as France. 

3. Beyond even these considerations of economy and 
advantage I put the transcendent, priceless benefit of 
Disarmament in the assurance of peace. Disarmament 
substitutes the constable for the soldier, and reduces the 
Standing Army to a police. The argument assumes, 
first, the needlessness of a Standing Army, and, sec- 
ondly, its evil influence. Both of these points were 
touched at an early day by the wise Chancellor of Eng- 
land, Sir Thomas More, when, in his practical and per- 
sonal Introduction to " Utopia," he alludes to what he 
calls the " bad custom " of keeping many servants, and 
then says : " In France there is yet a more pestiferous 
sort of people ; for the whole country is full of soldiers, 
that are still kept up in time of peace, — if such a state 
of a nation can be called a peace." Then, proceeding 
with his judgment, the Chancellor holds up what he 
calls those " pretended statesmen " whose maxim is that 
"it is necessary for the public safety to have a good 
body of veteran soldiers ever in readiness." And after 
saying that these pretended statesmen "sometimes seek 
occasion for making war, that they may train up their 



292 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

soldiers in the art of cutting throats," he adds, in words 
soon to be tested, " But France has learned, to its cost, 
how dangerous it is to feed such beasts." ^ It will be 
well, if France has learned this important lesson. The 
time has come to practise it. 

All history is a vain word, and all experience is at 
fault, if large War Preparations, of which the Standing 
Army is the type, have not been constant provocatives 
of war. Pretended protectors against war, they have 
been real instigators to war. They have excited the 
evil against which they were to guard. The habit of 
wearing arms in private life exercised a kindred influ- 
ence. So long as this habit continued, society was 
darkened by personal combat, street-fight, duel, and as- 
sassination. The Standing Army is to the nation what 
the sword was to the modern gentleman, th^ stiletto to 
the Italian, the knife to the Spaniard, the pistol to our 
slave-master, — furnishing, like these, the means of 
death; and its possessor is not slow tause it. In stat- 
ing the operation of this system we are not left to in- 
ference. As France, according to Sir Thomas More, 
shows "how dangerous it is to feed such beasts," so 
does Prussia, in ever-memorable instance, which speaks 
now with more than ordinary authority, show precisely 
how the Standing Army may become the incentive to 
war. Frederick, the warrior king, is our witness. With 
honesty or impudence beyond parallel, he did not hesi- 
tate to record in his Memoirs, among the reasons for his 
war upon Maria Theresa, that, on coming to the throne, 
he found himself with "troops always ready to act." 
Voltaire, when called to revise the royal memoirs, 

1 Utopia, tr. Bumet, (London, 1845,) Book I. pp. 29, 30. 



GUARANTY OF DISARMAMENT. 293 

erased this confession, but preserved a copy;^ so that 
by his literary activity we have this kingly authority 
for the mischief from a Standing Army. How com- 
plete a weapon was that army may be learned from 
Lafayette, who, in a letter to Washington, in 1786, after 
a visit to the King, described it thus : — 

" Nothing can be compared to the beauty of the troops, to 
the discipline which reigns in all their ranks, to the sim- 
plicity of their movements, to tJie uniformity of their regi- 
ments All the situations which can be supposed in 

war, all the movements which these must necessitate, have 
been by constant habit so inculcated in tlieir heads, that aU 
these operations are done almost mechanically." ^ 

Nothing better has been devised since the Macedo- 
nian phalanx or the Roman legion. With such a weap- 
on ready to his hands, the King struck Maria Theresa. 
And think you that the present duel between France 
and Germany could have been waged, had not both na- 
tions found themselves, like Frederick of Prussia, with 
" troops always ready to act " ? It was the possession of 
these troops which made the two parties rush so swiftly 
to the combat. Is not the lesson perfect ? Already 
individuals have disarmed. Civilization requires that 
nations shall do likewise. 

Thus is Disarmament enforced on three several 
grounds : first, economy ; secondly, positive advantage, 
if not necessity, for France ; and, thirdly, assurance of 
peace. No other guaranty promises so much. Does 
any other guaranty promise anything . beyond the acci- 

1 Brougham, Lives of Men of Letters, (London and Glasgow, 3856,) p. 59, 
— Voltaire. See also Voltaire, Memoires pour servir d la Vie cle, ecrits par 
lui-meme, (^dit. 1784-89,) Tom. LXX. p. 279; also Frederic II., Histoire 
de moil Temps, (Euvres Postluimes, (Berlin, 1789,) Tom. I. Part. I. p. 78. 

2 Memoires, Tom. II. p. 133. 



294 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

dent of force ? Nor would France be alone. Dismiss- 
ing to the arts of peace the large army victorious over 
Slavery, our Eepublic has shown how disarmament can 
be accomplished. The example of France, so entirely 
reasonable, so profitable, so pacific, and so harmonious 
with ours, would spread. Conquering Germany could 
not resist its influence. Nations are taught by example 
more than by precept, and either is better than force. 
Other nations would follow ; nor would Eussia, elevated 
by her great act of Enfranchisement, fail to seize her 
sublime opportunity. Popular rights, which are strong- 
est always in assured peace, would have new triumphs. 
Instead of Trial by Battle for the decision of differences 
between nations, there would be peaceful substitutes, as 
Arbitration, or, it may be, a Congress of Nations, and 
the United States of Europe would appear above the 
subsiding waters. The old juggle of Balance of Power, 
which has rested like a nightmare on Europe, would 
disappear, like that other less bloody fiction of Balance 
of Trade, and nations, like individuals, would all be 
equal before the law. Here our own country furnishes 
an illustration. So long as slavery prevailed among us, 
there was an attempt to preserve what was designated 
balance of power between the North and South, pivot- 
ing on Slavery, — just as in Europe there has been an 
attempt to preserve balance of power among nations 
pivoting on War. Too tardily is it seen that this fa- 
mous balance, which has plaj'^ed such a part at home 
and abroad, is but an artificial contrivance instituted by 
power, which must give place to a simple accord derived 
from the natural condition of things. Why should not 
the harmony which has begun at home be extended 
abroad ? Practicable and beneficent here, it must be 



KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 295 

the same there. Then woukl nations exist without per- 
petual and reciprocal watchfulness. But the first step 
is to discard the wasteful, oppressive, and pernicious 
provocative to war, whicli is yet maintained at such ter- 
rible cost. To-day this glorious advance is presented to 
France and Germany. 

KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 

Two personages at this moment hold in their hands 
the great question teeming with a new civilization. 
Honest and determined, both are patriotic rather than 
cosmopolitan or Christian, believing in Prussia rather 
than Humanity. And the patriotism so strong in each 
keeps still the early tinge of iron. I refer to King 
William and his Prime-Minister, Count Bismarck. 

More than any other European sovereign, William 
of Prussia possesses the infatuation of " divine right." 
He believes that he was appointed by God to be King 
— differing here from Louis Napoleon, who in a spirit 
of compromise entitled himself Emperor " by the grace 
of God and the national will." This infatuation was 
illustrated at his coronation in ancient Konissbercj, — 
first home of Prussian royalty, and better famous as 
birthplace and lifelong home of Immanuel Kant, — 
when the King enacted a scene of melodrama which 
might be transferred from the church to the theatre. 
No other person was allowed to place the crown on his 
royal head. Lifting it from "the altar, where it rested, 
he placed it on his head himself, in sign that he held 
it from Heaven and not from man, and next placed an- 
other on the liead of the Queen, in sign that her dignity 
was derived from him. Then, turning round, he grasped 



296 THE DUEL BETWEEN FKANCE AND GERMANY. 

the sword of state, in testimony of readiness to defend 
the nation. Since the Battle of Sadowa, when the Aus- 
trian Empire was so suddenly shattered, he has believed 
himself providential sword-bearer of Germany, destined, 
perhaps, to revive the old glories of Barbarossa. His 
habits are soldierly, and, notwithstanding his seventy- 
three winters, he continues to find pleasure in wearing 
the spiked helmet of the Prussian camp. Eepublicans 
smile when he speaks of " my army," " my allies," and 
" my people " ; but this egotism is the natural expres- 
sion of the monarchical character, especially where the 
monarch believes that he holds by " divine right." His 
public conduct is in harmony with these conditions. 
He is a Protestant, and rules the land of Luther, but 
he is no friend to modern Eeform, The venerable sys- 
tem of war and prerogative is part of his inheritance 
handed down from fighting despots^, and he evidently 
believes in it. 

His Minister, Count Bismarck, is the partisan of " di- 
vine right," and, like the King, regards with satisfaction 
that hierarchical feudalism from which they are both 
derived. He is noble, and believes in nobility. He 
believes also in force, as if he had the blood of the god 
Thor. He believes in war, and does not hesitate to 
throw its " iron dice," insisting upon the rigors of the 
game. As the German question began to lower, his 
policy was most persistent. " Not by speeches and 
votes of the majority," he said in 1862, " are the great 
questions of the time decided, — that was the error of 
1848 and 1849, — hut hy iron and Uood.'" ^ Thus expli- 

1 " Nicht durch Reden und Majoritatsbeschliisse werden die grossen Fra- 
gen der Zeit entschieden, — das ist der Fehler von 1848 und 1849 gewesen, — 
sondern durch Eisen und Blut." — Aeusserungen in der Btidgetkommission, 
September, 1862. 



KING WILLIAM AND COUNT BISMARCK. 297 

cit was he. Having a policy, he became its representa- 
tive, and very soon thereafter controlled the counsels of 
his sovereign, coming swiftly before the world ; and yet 
his elevation was tardy. Born in 1815, he did not en- 
ter upon diplomacy until 1851, when thirty-six years of 
age, and only in 1862 became Prussian Minister at 
Paris, whence he was soon transferred to the Cabinet 
at Berlin as Prime-Minister. Down to that time he 
was little known. His name is not found in any edi- 
tion of the bulky French Dictionary of Contempora- 
ries,^ not even its " Additions and Rectifications," until 
the Supplement of 1863. But from this time he drew 
so large a share of public attention that the contempo- 
rary press of the world became the dictionary where his 
name was always found. Nobody doubts his intellec- 
tual resources, his courage, or 'strength of will ; but it is 
felt that he is naturally hard, and little affected by hu- 
man sympathy. Therefore is he an excellent war min- 
ister. It remains to be seen if he will do as much for 
peace. His one idea has been the unity of Germany 
under the primacy of Prussia ; and here he encountered 
Austria, as he now encounters France. But in that 
larger unity where nations will be conjoined in har- 
mony he can do less, so long at least as he continues 
a fanatic for kings and a cynic towards popular insti- 
tutions. 

Such is the King, and such his Minister. I have de- 
scribed them that you may see how little help the great 
ideas already germinating from bloody fields will receive 
from them. In this respect they are as one. 

^ Vapereau, Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains. 



298 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

TWO INFLUENCES VERSUS WAE SYSTEM. 

Beyond the most persuasive influence of civilization, 
pleading, as never before, with voice of reason and af- 
fection, that the universal tyrant and master-evil of 
Christendom, the War System, may cease, and the 
means now absorbed in its support be employed for the 
benefit of the Human Family, there are two special in- 
fluences which cannot be without weight at this time. 
The first is German authority in the writings of philos- 
ophers, by whom Germany rules in thought; and the 
second is the uprising of the working-men: both 
against war as acknowledged arbiter between nations, 
and insisting upon peaceful substitutes. 

AUTHORITY OF THE GERMAN MIND. 

More than any other nation Germany has suffered 
from war. Without that fatal gift of beauty, " a dowry 
fraught with never-ending pain," which tempted the 
foreigner to Italy, her lot has been hardly less wretch- 
ed; but Germany has differed from Italy in the suc- 
cessful bravery with which she repelled the invader. 
Tacitus says of her people, that, " surrounded by numer- 
ous and very powerful nations, they are safe, not by 
obsequiousness, but by battles and braving danger " ; ^ 
and this same character, thus epigrammatically pre- 
sented, has continued ever since. Yet this was not 
without that painful experience which teaches what 
Art has so often attempted to picture and Eloquence to 
describe, "The Miseries of War." Again in that same 

1 "Plurlmis ac valentissimis nationibus cincti, non per obsequium, sed 
proeliis et periclitando tuti sunt." — Germania, Cap. XL. 



AUTHORITY OF THE GERMAN MIND. 299 

fearless spirit has Germany driven back the invader, 
while War is seen anew in its atrocious works. But it 
was not merely the Miseries of War which Germans 
regarded. The German mind is pliilosophical and sci- 
entific, and it early saw the irrational character of the 
War System. It is well known that Henry the Fourth 
of Trance conceived the idea of Harmony among Na- 
tions without War; and his plan was taken up and elab- 
orated in numerous writings by the good Abbe de Saint- 
Pierre, so that he made it his own. Eousseau, in his 
treatise on the subject,^ popularized Saint-Pierre. But 
it is to Germany that we must look for the most com- 
plete and practical development of this beautiful idea. 
If French in origin, it is German now in authority. 

The greatest minds in Germany have dealt with this 
problem, and given to its solution the exactness of sci- 
ence. No greater have been applied to any question. 
Foremost in this list, in time and in fame, is Leibnitz, 
that marvel of human intelligence, second, perhaps, to 
none in history, who, on reading the " Project of Perpet- 
ual Peace" by the Abbe de Saint-Pierre, pronounced 
this judgment : " I have read it with attention, and am 
persuaded that such a project is on the whole feasible, 
and that its execution would be one of the most useful 
things in tlie world." ^ Thus did Leibnitz affirm its 
feasibility and its immense usefulness. Other minds 
followed, in no apparent concert, but in unison. I may 
be pardoned, if, without being too bibliographical, I 
name some of these witnesses. 

1 J. J. Rousseau, Extrait du Projet de Paix Perpetuelle de M. I'Abbe 
de Saint-Pierre ; avec Lettre a M. de Bastide, et Jugement sur la Paix Per- 
petuelle : CEuvres, (edit. 1788-93,) Tom. VII. pp. 339-418. 

2 Observations sur le Projet d'une Paix Perpetuelle de M. I'Abbe de 
Saint-Pierre: Opera, ed. Dutens, (Genevte, 1768,) Tom. V. p. 56. 



300 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GEKMAXY. 

At Gottiiigen, renowned for its Uuiversitv, the ques- 
tion was opened, at the close of the Seven Years" War 
in 1763, in a work by Totze, whose character appears in 
its title, " Permanent and Universal Peace in Europe, 
according to the Plan of Henry lY." ^ At Leipsic, also 
the seat of a University, the subject was presented in 
1767 by Lilienfeld, in a treatise of much completeness, 
under the name of "New Constitution for States,"^ 
where, after exposing the wretched chances of the bat- 
tle-field and the expense of armaments in time of peace, 
the author urges submission to Arbitrators, unless a Su- 
preme Tribunal is established to administer Interna- 
tional Law and to judge between nations. In 1804 ap- 
peared another work, of singular clearness and force, by 
Karl Schwab, entitled " Of Unavoidable Injustice," ^ 
where the author describes what he calls the Universal 
State, in which nations will be to each other as citizens 
in the ]\Iunicipal State. He is not so visionary as to 
imagine that justice will always be inviolate between 
nations in the Universal State, for it is not always so 
between citizens in the jMunicipal State ; but he con- 
fidently looks to the establishment between nations of 
the rules which now subsist between citizens, whose dif- 
ferences are settled peaceably by judicial tribunals. 

These works, justly important for the light they shed, 
and as expressions of a growing sentiment, are eclipsed 
in the contributions of the great teacher, Immanuel 
Kant, who, after his fame in philosophy was established, 
so that his works were discussed and expounded not 
only throughout Germany, but in other lands, in 1795 

1 Der e^\-ige iind allgemeiiie Friede in Europa, naoli deiu Eutwurf Hein- 
richs IV. 
" Neues Staatsgebaude. 
8 Ueber das uuvermeidliclie Uureclit. 



ArrnioFciTV of the ckhmxs mind. 301 

gave to tho world a treatise entitled "On Perjx^tual 
Peace," ^ which was promptly translated into French, 
l)anish, and JJutch. Two other works by hirn attf^st 
his interest in the suV^ject, the first entitled "Idea for 
a General History in a Cosmopolitan View,"^ and the 
other, " Metaphysical Elements of Jurisprudence." ^ 
His grasp was complete. A treaty of peace which 
tacitly acknowledges the right to wage war, as all trea- 
ties now do, according to Kant is nothing more than a 
truce. An individual war may be ended, but not the 
date of vmr ; so that, even after cessation of hostilities, 
there will be constant fear of their renewal, while the 
aniiaments known as Peace Establishments will tend to 
provoke them. All this should V^e changed, and nations 
should form one comprehensive Federation, which, re- 
ceiving other nations within its fold, will at last em- 
brace the civilized world ; and such, in the judgment of 
Kant, was the irresistible tendency of nations. To a 
French poet we are indebted for the most suggestive 
term, "United States of P^urope";* but this is noth- 
ing but the Federation of the illustrious German phi- 
losopher. Nor was Kant alone among bis great contem- 
poraries. That other philosopher, Fichte, whose name 
at the time was second only to that of Kant, in his 
" Groundwork of the Law of Nature," ^ published in 
1796, also urges a Federation of Nations, with an es- 
tablished tribunal to which all should submit. Much 
better for civilization, had the King at Konigsberg, in- 

1 Ziirri ewigf;n Frififlen. 

2 Idee 7.n einer allgenieinen Geschichte in weltVmrgerlicher Absioht. 

* Metaphysi.sche Anfangsgriinde der Rechtslehre. 

* Victor iliigo, Di.scours d'Ou venture dii Congrea de la Paix a Paris, 21 
Aoftt 1849 : Treize Di.sconrs, (Paris, 1851,) p. 19. 

6 Grundlage des Naturrechts. 



302 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GERMANY. 

stead of grasping the sword, hearkened to the voice of 
Kant, renewed by Fichte. 

With these German oracles in its support, the cause 
cannot be put aside. Even in the midst of war, Phi- 
losophy will be heard, especially when she speaks w^ords 
of concurring authority that touch a chord in every 
heart. Leibnitz, Kant, and Fichte, a mighty triumvi- 
rate of intelligence, unite in testimony. As Germany, 
beyond any other nation, has given to the idea of Or- 
ganized Peace the warrant of philosophy, it only re- 
mains now that she should insist upon its practical ap- 
plication. There should be no delay. Long enough has 
mankind waited while the river of blood flowed on. 



UPRISING OF WOEKING-MEN. 

The working-men of Europe, not excepting Germany, 
respond to the mandate of Philosophy, and insist that 
the War System shall be abolished. At public meet- 
ings, in formal resolutions and addresses, they have de- 
clared war against War, and they will not be silenced. 
This is not the first time that working-men have made 
themselves heard for international justice. I cannot 
forget, that, while Slavery was waging war against our 
nation, the working-men of Belgium in public meeting 
protested against that precocious Proclamation of Bel- 
ligerent Eights by which the British Government gave 
such impulse to the Ptebellion ; and now, in the same 
spirit, and for the sake of true peace, they declare them- 
selves against that War System by which the peace of 
nations is placed in such constant jeopardy. They are 
right ; for nobody suffers in war as the M^orking-man, 
whether in property or in person. For him war is a 



UPRISING OF WORKING-MEN. 303 

raveuing monster, devouring bis substance, and cbang- 
ing him from citizen to mibtary serf. As victim of the 
War System be is entitled to be beard. 

Tbe working-men of different countries bave been or- 
ganizing in societies, of wbicb it is difficult at present 
to tell tbe number and extent. It is known tbat these 
societies exist in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and 
England, as well as in our own country, and tbat they 
have in some measure an international character. In 
France, before tbe war, there were 433,785 men in tbe 
organization, and in Germany 150,000.^ Yet this is but 
the beginning. 

At the menace of tbe present war, all these societies 
were roused. Tbe society known as the International 
Working-Men's Association, by their General Council, 
issued an address, dated at London, protesting against it 
as a war of dynasties, denouncing Louis Napoleon as an 
enemy of the laboring classes, and declaring " the war- 
plot of July, 1870, but an amended edition of tbe coup 
d'dat of December, 1851." The address then testifies 
generally against war, saying, — 

" They feel deeply convinced, that, whatever turn the im- 
pending horrid war may take, the alliance of the working class- 
es of all countries will ultimately hill war.'^ ^ 

At the same time the Paris branch of the Interna- 
tional Association put forth a manifesto addressed " To 
the Working-Men of all Countries," from which I take 
these passages : — 

1 La Solidarite, 25 Juin 1870, — as cited by Testu, L" Internationale, 
(7eme edit.,) p. 275. 

2 The General Council of the International Working-Men's Association 
on the War, (London, July 23, 1870,) p. iv. 



304 'I'llK DIIICL r.MTVVKIW l<'l{,.VN(^E AND CKK'MANY. 

"Oiu'o luoi'c, ^ul(lc^l• i\w \)vvio\[, ol" Kurnpoiui o(|uilil)riuiu, 
ol" iKil-iiuial hoimr, poliLiciil iUul)itiona moiuico tlio poiico ol" tho 
world. 

" It'rtMU'h, (uM'iuiUi, iS|);uiisli wdrking-nmn ! let our voices 
unite ill- (I cri/ of rcprolMtioit. Uijaiiist tear ! 

"War for a (piosCion of pn^poiuloraiu'.o, or of ilyuasty, can, 
in tho eyes of working-mon, bo noiliing buL a ci-iininal absur- 
dity. 

"In rosponso to tho warliko acolaniations of tlioso who gx- 
onerate thonisolvos from tho impost of bhiod, or who lind in 
public niistbrtunos a sourco of new spocuhitit)ns, wo protest, 
— wo who wish for poaco, work, and UbtM-ty. 

** Brothers of Gormany ! . „ . . otu' divisions wotdd only 
bring about the eom/i/ete {riiinipli of dei^potisvi on hot// si(/cs of 
the Rhine. 

"Working-mon of all countries! whaieviM' may ho the re- 
sult of our common ofl'orts, we, nuMuhcrs ol' tlH> International 
Association of Working-MiMi, wlu) know no frontiers, wc sond 
yon, as a pledge of indissolublti solidarity, tho good wishes 
and till! salutations of the working-men of Krane.e."^ 

1\> this ap]')eal, so full of (ruth, touching' (o tho (|ni('k 
tho protcnco of balance of power and (juestions ot" dy- 
nasty as excuses for war, and then vising to " a cry of 
reprobation against war," the Berlin branch of the In- 
ternational Association replied : — 

" AVt\join with Iteart and hand in your protestation 

Solemnly wo ])roniise you, that neither tlie noiso of d nuns nor 
the thnnder of cannon, neitlu^r victory nor defeat, shall turn 
ns aside from our work Ibr tho nnion of the proletaries of 
all countritvs." '^ 

1 'Pcstu, T/'liili'rii;ili(iii;ilo, ])p. 270-80. Tlio (^('iu>v:i.l ("'(luiuul of the Iii" 
toriuiiioiial Workinj; Mon's Associiitinn on t.liii War, \^. ii. 
'^ Tustu, jij). 28i-S5. Tho Uuuonil Council, otc, p. iii. 



UPRTSTNO OK W01;KIN(! mkn. 305 

Then ciiiiu! 11 iiUHiLin^ of (U',l(;^;il.(i.s ni ( -liciiuiit/-, in 
Saxony, reproseiitinj^ filly lliousiind Saxon vvorUing-niun, 
wliicli put lorLli Uic. follovvinj^' liai'dy wdids : — 

" W(( iiro liappy to firasp tlio IVatdniiil hand s(,r(i(,c]i(Ml out 

to'UH hy t,li(> vv()rlviiiL,'-n»cii oi" P'rancd Mindl'iil of i]\(\ 

watchwonl dC Uio I ntcrnatidnal Working-Mcui's A.ssocial.ioM, 
ProfcftiridjiN of all rouiitrii-s, nuUc ! wo hIiiiU novtir loi'i^ct 
that tiio vvorl;in^f-ni(^u of nil (unnilri(!s aro (nir I'rionclH, and 
tho th)H[»ol,s oi' ;iil (:()iinLi'i(%s oiu' i'ii('iiii(%s." ' 

N(!.\l. I'ollowcd, at MruuHVviuk, in (lonnany.on l.lic ICitli 
of -Inly, — tlu) very diiy allcr th(! readinj^f of tJu! war doo 
unicnt at tho Fi'cMich tiihnne, and th(i " li^ht heart" of 
the I'rinie-Ministei', — a mass nKU'tini;- of the workin^- 
nicn tliere, wliieh deehuxid il,s fnll eonenrrenee with the 
nianilesto oi' tlie I'ai'is hraneli, siJiirncd tlie i(h'a, of na- 
tional antagonism to l^Vaiiee, and wound np with those 
solid woi'ds : — 

" Wo aro ononiios of all wars, but abovo all of (lynastio 
wars." '^ 

Th(^ whole snl>j(M^t is presented with admirable ])ower 
in an addre.ss from tlui Workmen's Peace (lominittiie to 
till! Woi'kin^'-Men of (Jreat I'i'itain and Ireland, dnly 
signed by their olUuers. Ilei'i; are some of its sen- 
tences : — 

"Without us war must ooaao ; for without ua Ktaudiiij^' 
ariiiioM could not oxi.st. It is out of our class chiolly that 
th(\y iiro forniod." 

" Wo would oall U|»iui and iMi|»loi'o tho pooplos of I*^'anco 
luid (Joi'Miiuiy, ill order to oiiid)lo thoir own riilors to l'(^■dizo 

• 'I'lii' Ociu'ial ('(iiiiicil ul' llio hiLuriiaUoiial VVuikiug Muh'h A.ssoc'iaUoii 
on lliii War, i>. iii. 
a Ibid. 



306 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, 

these their peace-loving professions, to insist upon the aboli- 
tion of standing armies, as both the source and means of 
war, nurseries of vice, and locust-consumers of the fruits of 
useful industry." 

" What we claim and demand — what we would implore 
the peoples of Europe to do, without regard to Courts, Cabi- 
nets, or Dynasties — is to insist upon Arbitration as a substi- 
tute for war, with peace and its blessings for them, for us, for 
the whole civilized world." ^ 

The working-men of England responded to this ap- 
peal, in a crowded meeting at St. James's Hall, London, 
where all the speakers were working-men and represen- 
tatives of the various handicrafts, except the Chairman, 
whose strong words found echo in the intense convic- 
tions of the large assemblage : — 

" One object of this meeting is to make the horror uni- 
versally inspired by the enormous and cruel carnage of this 
terrible war the groundwork for appealing to the working 
classes and the people of all other European countries to join 
in protesting against war altogether, [prolonged cheers,'\ as the 
shame of Christendom, and direst curse and scourge of the 
human race. Let the will of the people sweep away war, 
which cannot be waged without them. ['Hear!''\ Away 
with enormous standing armies, ['Rear ! '] the nurseries and 
instruments of war, — nurseries, too, of vice, and crushing 
burdens upon national wealth and prosperity ! Let there go 
forth from the people of this and other lands one universal 
and all-overpowering cry and demand for the blessings of 
peace ! " ^ 

At this meeting the Honorary Secretary of the Work- 
men's Peace Committee, after announcing that the work- 

1 Herald of Peace for 1870, September 1st, pp. 101 - 2. 

2 Ibid., October 1st, p. 125. 



ABOLITION OF THE WAK SYSTEM. 307 

ing-men of upwards of three hundred towns had given 
their adhesion to the platform of the Committee, thus 
showing a determination to abolish war altogether, moved 
the following resolution, which was adopted : — 

" That war, especially with the present many fearful contri- 
vances for wholesale carnage and destruction, is repugnant to 
every principle of reason, humanity, and religion ; and this 
meeting earnestly invites all civilized and Christian peoples 
to insist upon the abolition of standing armies, and the settle- 
ment by arbitration of all international disputes." ^ 

Thus clearly is the case stated by the Working-Men, 
now beginning to be heard; and the testimony is rever- 
berated from nation to nation. They cannot be silent 
hereafter. I confidently look to them for imiDortant co- 
operation in this great work of redemption. Could my 
voice reach them now, wherever they may be, in that 
honest toil which is the appointed lot of man, it would 
be with words of cheer and encouragement. Let them 
proceed until civilization is no longer darkened by war. 
In this way will they become not only saviours to their 
own households, but benefactors of the whole Human 
Family. 

ABOLITION OF THE WAR SYSTEM. 

Such is the statement, with its many proofs, by which 
war is exhibited as the Duel of Nations, being the Trial 
by Battle of the Dark Ages. You have seen how na- 
tions, under existing International Law, to which all are 
parties, refer their differences to this insensate arbitra- 
ment, — and then how, in our day and before our own 
eyes, two nations eminent in civilization have furnished 

1 Herald of Peace for 1870, October 1st, p. 125. 



308 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GEKMANY. 

an instance of this incredible folly, waging together a 
world-convulsing, soul-harrowing, and most barbarous 
contest. All ask how long the direful duel will be con- 
tinued. Better ask, How long will be continued that 
War System by which such a duel is authorized and 
regulated among nations ? When will this legalized, 
organized crime be abolished ? When at last will it be 
confessed that the Law of Right is the same for nations 
as for individuals, so that, if Trial by Battle be impious 
for individuals, it is so for nations likewise ? Against it 
are Reason and Humanity, pleading as never before, — 
Economy, asking for mighty help, — Peace, with softest 
voice praying for safeguard, — and then the authority of 
Philosophy, speaking by some of its greatest masters, — 
all reinforced by the irrepressible, irresistible protest of 
working-men in different nations. 

Precedents exist for the abolition of this duel, so com- 
pletely in point, that, according to the lawyer's phrase, 
they " go on all fours " with the new case. Two of 
these have been already mentioned : first, when, at the 
Diet of Worms, in 1495, the Emperor Maximilian pro- 
claimed a permanent peace throughout Germany, and 
abolished the " liberty " of Private War ; and, secondly, 
when, in 1815, the German Principalities stipulated 
" under no pretext to make war upon one another, or 
to pursue their differences by force of arms." ^ But 
first in time, and perhaps in importance, was the great 
Ordinance of St. Louis, King of France, promulgated at 
a Parliament in 1260, where he says: " We forbid bat- 
tles [i e. Tkials by Battle] to all persons throughout our 
dominions, .... and in place of battles we put proofs 
by witnesses And these Battles we abolish in 

1 See, ante, p. 247. 



THE WORLD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 309 

OUR Dominions forever." ^ These at the time were 
great words, and they continue great as an example. 
Their acceptance by any two nations would begin the 
work of abolition, which would be completed on their 
adoption by a Congress of Nations, taking from war its 
existing sanction. 

THE WORLD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 

The growing tendencies of mankind have been quick- 
ened by the character of the present war, and the unex- 
ampled publicity with which it has been waged. Never 
before were all nations, even those separated by great 
spaces, whether of land or ocean, the daily and excited 
spectators of the combat. The vast amphitheatre within 
which the battle is fought, with the whole heavens for 
its roof, is coextensive with civilization itself The 
scene in that great Flavian Amphitheatre, the famous 
Colosseum, is a faint type of what we are witnessing ; 
but that is not without its lesson. Bloody games, where 
human beings contended with lions and tigers, imported 
for the purpose, or with each other, constituted an insti- 
tution of ancient Rome, only mildly rebuked by Cicero,^ 
and adopted even by Titus, in that short reign so much 
praised as unspotted by the blood of the citizen.^ One 

1 " Nous deffendoiis a tons les batailles par tout nostre demengiie, .... 
et en lieu des batailles nous meton priieves de tesmoius Et ces ba- 
tailles nous ostons en nostre demaigne a toujours." — Recueil General des 
Anciennes Lois Franpaises, i>a,r Jourdan, etc., (Paris, 1822-33,) Tom. I. 
pp. 283-90. 

2 "Criidele gladiatorum spectaculum et inhuman una nonnullis videri 
solet : et hand scio an ita sit, ut nunc tit. " — Tusculance Qucestiones, Lib. 
II. Cap. XVII. 41. 

8 Suetonius: Titus, Cap. IX. Merivale, History of the Romans under 
the Empire, (London, 1862,) Ch. LX., Vol. VII. p. 56. 



310 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GERMANY. 

hundred thousand spectators looked on, while gladiators 
from Germany and Gaul joined in ferocious combat; and 
then, as blood began to flow, and victim after victim 
sank upon the sand, the people caught the fierce conta- 
gion. A common ferocity ruled the scene. As Chris- 
tianity prevailed, the incongruity of such an institution 
was widely felt; but still it continued. At last an 
Eastern monk, moved only by report, journeyed a long 
way to protest against the impiety. With noble enthu- 
siasm he leaped into the arena, where the battle raged, 
in order to separate the combatants. He was unsuc- 
cessful, and paid with life the penalty of his humanity.^ 
But the martyr triumphed where the monk had failed. 
Shortly afterwards, the Emperor Honorius, by solemn 
decree, put an end to this horrid custom. " The first 
Christian Emperor," says Gibbon, "may claim the honor 
of the first edict which condemned the art and amuse- 
ment of shedding human blood." ^ Our amphitheatre is 
larger than that of Eome ; but it witnesses scenes not 
less revolting ; nor need any monk journey a long way 
to protest against the impiety. That protest can be ut- 
tered by every one here at home. We are all specta- 
tors ; and since by human craft the civilized world has 
become one mighty Colosseum, with place for every- 
body, may we not insist that the bloody games by which 
it is yet polluted shall cease, and that, instead of mu- 
tual-murdering gladiators filling the near-brought scene 
with death, there shall be a harmonious people, of dif- 
ferent nations, but one fellowship, vying together only 
in works of industry and art, inspired and exalted by a 
divine beneficence ? 

1 St. Telemaclms, A. D. 404. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire, ed. Milman, (London, 1846,) Ch. XXX., Vol. III. p. 70. Smith, 
Diet. Gr. and Eom. Biog. and Myth. , art. Telemachus. 

2 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ubi supra. 



THE WOELD A GLADIATORIAL AMPHITHEATRE. 311 

In presenting this picture I exaggerate nothing. How 
feeble is language to depict the stupendous barbarism ! 
How small by its side the bloody games which degrad- 
ed ancient Eome ! How pygmy the one, how colossal 
the other ! Would you know how the combat is con- 
ducted? Here is the briefest picture of the arena by 
a looker-on : — 

" Let your readers fancy masses of colored rags glued to- 
gether ■with blood and brains, and pinned into strange shapes 
by fragments of bones, — let them conceive men's bodies 
without heads, legs without bodies, heaps of human entrails 
attached to red and blue cloth, and disembowelled corpses 
in uniform, bodies lying about in all attitudes, with skulls 
shattered, faces blown off, hips smashed, bones, flesh, and 
gay clothing all pounded together as if brayed in a mortar 
extending for miles, not very thick in any one place, but re- 
curring perpetually for weary hours, — and then they cannot, 
with the most vivid imagination, come up to the sickening 
reality of that butchery."^ 

Such a sight would have shocked the Heathen of 
Eome. They could not have looked on while the brave 
gladiator was thus changed into a bloody hash ; least of 
all could they have seen the work of slaughter done by 
machinery. Nor could any German gladiator have 
written the letter I proceed to quote from a German 
soldier : — 

" I do not know how it is, but one wholly forgets the dan- 
ger one is in, and thinks only of the effect of one's own bul- 
lets, rejoicing hke a child at the sight of the enemy falling 
like skittles, and having scarcely a compassionate glance to 
spare for the comrade falling at one's side. One ceases to be 
a human being, and turns into a brute, a complete brute." 

1 Scene after the Battle of Sedan : Herald of Peace for 1870, October 1st, 
p. VAl. 



312 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

Plain confession ! And yet the duel continues. Nor 
is there death for the armed man only. Fire mingles 
with slaughter, as at Bazeilles. Women and children 
are roasted alive, filling the air with suffocating odor, 
while the maddened combatants rage against each other. 
All this is but part of the prolonged and various spec- 
tacle, where the scene shifts only for some other horror. 
Meanwhile the sovereigns of the world sit in their boxes, 
and the people everywhere occupy the benches. 

PERIL FROM THE WAR SYSTEM. 

The duel now pending teaches the peril from contin- 
uance of the present system. If France and Germany 
can be brought so suddenly into collision on a mere 
pretext, what two nations are entirely safe ? Where is 
the talisman for their protection ? None, surely, ex- 
cept Disarmament, which, therefore, for the interest 
of all nations, should be commenced. Prussia is now 
an acknowledged military power, armed "in complete 
steel," — but at what cost to her people, if not to man- 
kind ! Military citizenship, according to Prussian rule, 
is military serfdom, and on this is elevated a milita- 
ry despotism of singular grasp and power, operating 
throughout the whole nation, like martial law or a 
state of siege. In Prussia the law tyrannically seizes 
every youth of twenty, and, no matter what his calling 
or profession, compels him to military service for seven 
years. Three years he spends in active service in the 
regular army, where his life is surrendered to the trade 
of blood ; then for four years he passes to the reserve, 
where he is subject to periodic military drills ; then for 
five years longer to the Landwehr, or militia, with lia- 



PERIL FROM THE WAR SYSTEM. 313 

bility to service in the Landsturm, in case of war, until 
sixty. Wherever he may be in foreign lauds, his mili- 
tary duty is paramount. 

But if this system be good for Prussia, then must it 
be equally good for other nations. If this economical 
government, with education for all, subordinates the 
business of life to the military drill, other nations will 
find too much reason for doing the same. Unless the 
War System is abandoned, all must follow the success- 
ful example, while the civilized world becomes a busy 
camp, with every citizen a soldier, and with all sounds 
swallowed up in the tocsin of war. Where, then, are 
the people ? Where are popular rights ? Montesquieu 
has not hesitated to declare that the peril to free gov- 
ernments proceeds from armies, and that this peril is 
not corrected even by making them depend directly on 
the legislative power. This is not enough. The ar- 
mies must be reduced in number and force.^ Amons 
his papers, found since his death, is the prediction, 
" France will be ruined by the military." ^ It is the 
privilege of genius like that of Montesquieu to lift 
the curtain of the future ; but even he did not see the 
vastness of suffering in store for his country through 
those armies against which he warned. For years the 
engine of despotism at home, they became the sudden 
instrument of war abroad. Without them Louis Napo- 
leon could not have made himself Emperor, nor could 
he have hurried France into the present duel. ' If need- 
ed in other days, they are not needed now. The War 
System, always barbarous, is an anaclironism, full of 
peril both to peace and liberal institutions. 

1 De I'Esprit des Lois, Liv. XI. Ch. 6. 

2 "La France se perdra par les gens de gnerre." ~ Pensees Diverses, — 
Varietes: (Eiivres Melees et Posthnmes, ( Paris, 1807, Didot,) Tom. II. p. 138. 



314 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 
PEACE. 

An army is a despotism ; military service is a bond- 
age ; nor can the passion for arms be reconciled with a 
true civilization. The present failure to acknowledge 
this incompatibility is only another illustration how the 
clear light of truth is discolored and refracted by an 
atmosphere where the cloud of war still lingers. Soon 
must this cloud be dispersed. From war to peace is a 
change indeed; but Nature herself testifies to change. 
Sirius, brightest of all the fixed stars, was noted by 
Ptolemy as of reddish hue,^ and by Seneca as redder 
than Mars ; ^ but since then it has changed to white. 
To the morose remark, whether in the philosophy of 
Hobbes or the apology of the soldier, that man is a 
fighting animal and that war is natural, I reply, — Nat- 
ural for savages rejoicing in the tattoo, natural for bar- 
barians rejoicing in violence, but not natural for man in 
a true civilization, which I insist is the natural state to 
which he tends by a sure progression. The true state 
of Nature is not war, but peace. Not only every war, 
but every recognition of war as the mode of determining 
international differences, is evidence that we are yet 
barbarians, — and so also is every ambition for empire 
founded on force, and not on the consent of the peo- 
ple. A ghastly, bleeding, human head was discovered 
by the early Eomans, as they dug the foundations of 
that Capitol which finally swayed the world.^ That 
ghastly, bleeding, human head is the fit symbol of mil- 
itary power. 

1 Almagest, ed. et tr. Halma, (Paris, 1816-20,) Tom. II. pp. 72, 73. 

2 Naturales Qiifestiones, Lib. I. Cap. 1. 

3 Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Antiquitates Romanse, Lib. IV. Capp. 
59-61. 



PEACE. * 315 

Let tlie War System be abolished, and, in the glory 
of this consunuuation, how vulgar all that comes from 
battle ! By the side of this serene, beneficent civiliza- 
tion, how petty in its pretensions is military power ! 
how vain its triumphs ! At this moment the great 
general who has organized victory for Germany is 
veiled, and his name does not appear even in the mil- 
itary bulletins. Thus is the glory of arms passing from 
sight, and battle losing its ancient renown. Peace does 
not arrest the mind like war. It does not glare like 
battle. Its operations, like those of Nature, are gentle, 
yet sure. It is not the tumbling, sounding cataract, but 
the tranquil, fruitful river. Even the majestic Niagara, 
with thunder like war, cannot compare with the peace- 
ful plains of water which it divides. How easy to see 
that the repose of nations, like the repose of Nature, is 
the great parent of the most precious bounties vouch- 
safed by Providence ! Add Peace to Liberty, — 

"And with that virtue, every virtue lives." 

As peace is assured, the traditional sensibilities of 
nations will disappear. Their frontiers will no longer 
frown with hostile cannon, nor will their people be 
nursed to hate each other. By ties of constant fellow- 
ship will they be interwoven together, no sudden trum- 
pet waking to arms, no sharp summons disturbing the 
uniform repose. By steam, by telegraph, by the press, 
have they already conquered time, subdued space, — 
thus breaking down old walls of partition by which 
they have been separated. Ancient example loses its 
influence. The prejudices of another generation are 
removed, and the old geography gives place to a new. 
The heavens are divided into constellations, with names 
from beasts, or from some form of brute force, — as Leo, 



316 THE DUEL BETWEEN FEANCE AND GERMANY. 

Taurus, Sagittarius, and Orion with his club; but this 
is human device. By similar scheme is the earth di- 
vided. But in the sight of God there is one Human 
Family without division, where all are equal in rights ; 
and the attempt to set up distinctions, keeping men 
asunder, or in barbarous groups, is a practical denial of 
that great truth, religious and political, the Brotherhood 
of Man. The Christian's Fatherland is not merely the 
nation in which he was born, but the whole earth ap- 
pointed by the Heavenly Father for his home. In this 
Fatherland there can be no place for unfriendly boun- 
daries set up by any, — least of all, place for the War 
System, making nations as hostile camps. 

At Lassa, in Thibet, there is a venerable stone in 
memory of the treaty between the courts of Thibet and 
China, as long ago as 821, bearing an inscription worthy 
of a true civilization. From Eastern story learn now 
the beauty of peace. After the titles of the two august 
sovereigns, the monument proceeds : " These two wise, 
holy, spiritual, and accomplished princes, foreseeing the 
changes hidden in the most distant futurity, touched 
with sentiments of compassion towards their people, 
and not knowing, in their beneficent protection, any 
difference between their subjects and strangers, have, 
after mature reflection and by mutual consent, resolved 
to give peace to their people In perfect har- 
mony with each other, they will henceforth be good 
neighbors, and will do their utmost to draw still closer 
the bonds of union and friendship. Henceforward the 
two empires of Han (China) and Pho (Thibet) shall 
have fixed boundaries In preserving these lim- 
its, the respective parties shall not endeavor to injure 
each other; they shall not attack each other in arms, 



THE KEPUBLIC. 317 

or make any more incursions beyond the frontiers now 
determined." Then declaring that the two " must recip- 
rocally exalt their virtues and banish forever all mis- 
trust between them, that travellers may be without un- 
easiness, that the inhabitants of the villages and fields 
may live at peace, and that nothing may happen to 
cause a misunderstanding," the inscription announces, 
in terms doubtless Oriental : " This benefit will be ex- 
tended to future generations, and the voice of love (tow- 
ards its authors) will be heard wherever the splendor of 
the sun and the moon is seen. The Pho will be tran- 
quil in their kingdom, and the Han will be joyful in 
their empire." ^ Such is the benediction which from 
early times has spoken from one of the monuments 
erected by the god Terminus. Call it Oriental ; would 
it were universal ! While recognizing a frontier, there 
is equal recognition of peace as the rule of international 
life. 

THE REPUBLIC. 

In the abolition of the War System the will of the 
people must become all-powerful, exalting the Republic 
to its just place as the natural expression of citizenship. 
Napoleon has been credited with the utterance at St. 
Helena of the prophecy, that "in fifty years Europe 
would be Republican or Cossack." ^ Evidently Europe 

1 Travels of the Russian Mission througli Mongolia to Cliina, and Resi- 
dence in Peking, in 1820-21, by George Timkowski, Vol. I. pp. 460-64. 

2 See the New York Times of August 11, 1870, where the reputed 
prophecy is cited in these terms, in a letter of the 27th July from the Lon- 
don correspondent of that journal, with remarks imlicating an expectation 
of its fulfilment in the results of the present war. This famous saying has 
been variously represented ; but the following are its original terms, as re- 
corded at the time by Las Cases, to whom it was addi-essed in conversation, 



318 THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 

will not be Cossack, unless the Cossack is already 
changed to Eepublican, — as VN^ell may be, when it is 
known, that, since the great act of Enfranchisement, in 
February, 1861, by which twenty-three millions of serfs 
were raised to citizenship, with the right to vote, fifteen 
thousand three hundred and fifty public schools have 
been opened in Eussia. A better than Napoleon, who 
saw mankind with truer insight, Lafayette, has recorded 
a clearer prophecy. At the foundation of the monu- 
ment on Bunker Hill, on the semi-centennial anniver- 
sary of the battle, 17th June, 1825, our much-honorea 
national guest gave this toast: "Bunker Hill, and the 
holy resistance to oppression, which has already en- 
franchised the American hemisphere. The next half- 
century Jubilee's toast shall be, — To Enfranchised 
Europe"'^ The close of that half-century, already so 
prolific, is at hand. Shall it behold the great Jubilee 
with all its vastness of promise accomplished? En- 
franchised Europe, foretold by Lafayette, means not 
only the Piepublic for all, but Peace for all; it means 
the United States of Europe, with the War System 
abolished. Against that little faith through which so 
much fails in life, I declare my unalterable conviction, 
that " government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people " — thus simply described by Abraham Lin- 

and as authenticated by the Commission appointed by Louis Napoleon for 
the collection and publication of the matters now composing the magnifi- 
cent work entitled " Correspondance de Napoleon I"": — 

"Dans I'etat actuel cles choses, avant dix aws; touts VEwvo'p&peut Stre 
cosaque, ou toute en republique. " — Las Cases, Memorial de Sainte-IIe- 
lene, (Reimpression de 1823 et 1824,) Tom. HI. p. Ill, —Journal, 18 Avril 
1816. Correspondance de Napoleon Z^', (Paris, 1858-69,) Tom. XXXIL 
p. 326. 

1 Columbian Centinel, June 18, 1825. 



THE REPUBLIC. 319 

coin 1 — is a necessity of civilization, not only because 
of that republican equality without distinction of birth 
which it establishes, but for its assurance of permanent 
peace. All privilege is usurpation, and, like Slavery, a 
state of war, relieved only by truce, to be broken by 
the people in their miglit. To the people alone can 
mankind look for the repose of nations ; but the Eepub- 
lic is the embodied people. All hail to the Eepublic, 
equal guardian of all, and angel of peace ! 

Our own part is simple. It is, first, to keep out of 
war, — and, next, to stand firm in tliose ideas which are 
the life of the Republic. Peace is our supreme voca- 
tion. To this we are called. By this we succeed. Our 
example is more than an army. But not on this ac- 
count can we be indifferent, when Human Eights are 
assailed or republican institutions are in question. Ga- 
ribaldi asks for a " word," ^ that easiest expression of 
power. Strange will it be, when that is not given. To 
the Eepublic, and to all struggling for Human Eights, I 
give word, with heart on the lips. Word and heart I 
give. Nor would I have my country forget at any time, 
in the discharge of its transcendent duties, that, since 
the rule of conduct and of honor is the same for nations 
as for individuals, the greatest nation is that which does 
most for Humanity. 

1 Addre.ss at the Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, 
November 19, 1863 : McPherson's Political History of the United States 
during the Great Rebellion, p. 606. 

2 "The cause of Liberty in Italy needs the word of the United States 
Government, which would be more powerful in its behalf than that of any 
other." — Message to Air. Sumner from Caprera, May 24, 1869. 



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